Adaptive Morphophysiological Features of Neottia ovata (Orchidaceae) Contributing to Its Natural Colonization on Fly Ash Deposits

Autor: Nadezhda Chukina, M. A. Glazyrina, Galina Borisova, N. V. Lukina, Olga Sinenko, Maria Maleva, E. I. Filimonova
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Horticulturae
Volume 7
Issue 5
Hortic.
Horticulturae, Vol 7, Iss 109, p 109 (2021)
ISSN: 2311-7524
DOI: 10.3390/horticulturae7050109
Popis: In previous decades, some species of the Orchidaceae family have been found growing in man-made habitats. Neottia ovata is one of the most widespread orchids in Europe, however it is quite rare in Russia and is included in several regional Red Data Books. The purpose of this study was to compare the chemical composition and morphophysiological parameters of N. ovata from two forest communities of the Middle Urals, Russia: natural and transformed (fly ash dump of Verkhnetagil’skaya Thermal Power Station) for determining orchid adaptive features. The content of most of the studied metals in the underground parts (rhizome + roots) of N. ovata was considerably higher than in the leaves, which diminished the harmful effect of toxic metals on the aboveground organs. The adaptive changes in the leaf mesostructure of N. ovata such as an increase in epidermis thickness, the number of chloroplasts in the cell, and the internal assimilating surface were found for the first time. The orchids from the fly ash deposits were characterized by a higher content of chlorophyll b and carotenoids than plants from the natural forest community that evidenced the compensatory response on the decrease in chlorophyll a. The ability of N. ovata from the transformed habitat to maintain a relatively favorable water balance and stable assimilation indexes further contribute to its high viability. The study of orchid adaptive responses to unfavorable factors is necessary for their successful naturalization and introduction into a new environment. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The reported study was partly funded by RFBR and the Government of Sverdlovsk region, project number 20-44-660011 and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation as part of state task of the Ural Federal University, FEUZ-2020-0057.
Databáze: OpenAIRE