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Xanthophyll rhodoxanthin, which is present in sun-exposed needles of certain gymnosperms in winter, may have a photoprotective role during long-term cold acclimation. To examine how cold acclimation processes vary within tree crowns and to examine putative correlations between xanthophyll cycle pigments (VAZ), rhodoxanthin and the water-water cycle in photoprotection, we monitored seasonal changes in the activities of two key antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR)), pigment composition and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in sun and shade needles of crowns of the gymnosperm  Cryptomeria japonica  D. Don. Although APX and GR activities in both sun and shade needles were higher in winter than in summer when assayed at 20 °C, differences between seasons were less pronounced when enzymatic activities in summer and winter were assayed at 20 and 5 °C, respectively. These results suggest that increases in the potential activity of antioxidant enzymes in winter is an adaptation that helps counterbalance reductions in absolute enzyme activity caused by low temperature, and thus allows the photoprotective capacity of the water-water cycle in  C. japonica  to be maintained at a roughly constant value throughout the year. In shade needles, the concentration of VAZ increased in winter, but no rhodoxanthin accumulated. Photosynthetic activity was maintained in winter. In sun needles, however, the electron transport rate (ETR) and photochemical quenching ( q  P ) decreased to their lowest values in December, just before the accumulation of rhodoxanthin, which coincided with the highest amount of VAZ. Changes in rhodoxanthin concentration mirrored changes in VAZ concentration from January to March. Winter values of ETR and  q  P  were comparable with summer values after accumulation of rhodoxanthin, indicating that rhodoxanthin may play a more important role than the VAZ cycle in protecting the photosynthetic apparatus from photodamage in winter. Photosynthetic activity may be modulated, as a result of the interception of light by rhodoxanthin, to match the extent to which absorbed light energy can be utilized in winter when the VAZ cycle is unable to operate effectively because of low temperatures.

tree physiology

Seasonal changes in the xanthophyll cycle and antioxidants in sun-exposed and shaded parts of the crown of  Cryptomeria japonica  in relation to rhodoxanthin accumulation during cold acclimation