Chlorophyll a fluorescence, antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation in tomato in response to ozone and benomyl

Ozone is a widely distributed phytotoxic air pollutant and is known to reduce the yield of several important agricultural crops in Spain. However, benomyl has been found to lessen the adverse impact of ozone on plants. We studied the effects of ozone and benomyl on chlorophyll a fluorescence, antioxidant enzymes, and lipid peroxidation in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Tiny Tim) grown in open-top chambers in the field. Our results indicate that benomyl prevented the peroxidation of membrane lipids and increased protection of PSII from ozone. There was also a significant reduction in the activity of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase in ozone-exposed plants that had not been treated with benomyl. Comparing plants treated with benomyl to untreated plants we found that, on exposure to ozone, a greater fraction of light absorption energy was cycled through the photosynthetic system in benomyl-treated plants, as shown by the higher PSII-mediated electron flow and the higher fraction of open PSII reaction centers. The values analyzed in the fluorescence parameters and lipid peroxidation were similar for plants without benomyl grown in a charcoal-filtered environment and benomyl-treated plants exposed to ozone. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.