• The effect of high light and root chilling on gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and bulk shoot water potential (PSI-shoot) was examined for Pinus sylvestris seedlings. Transferring plants from low light (200-mu-mol m-2 s-1, PAR) and a soil temperature of 15-degrees-C to high light (850-mu-mol m-2 S-1) and 1-degrees-C caused > 90% decrease in net photosynthesis and leaf conductance measured at 350 mm3 dm-3 CO2, and a decrease in the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence (F(v)/F(m)) from 0.83 to 0.63. The decrease in F(v)/F(m) was, however, only marginally greater than when seedlings were transferred from low to high light but kept at a soil temperature of 15-degrees-C. Thus, photoinhibition was a minor component of the substantial decrease observed for net photosynthesis at 1-degrees-C soil temperature. The decrease in net photosynthesis and PSI-shoot at 1-degrees-C was associated with an increased in calculated intracellular CO2 concentration, suggesting that non-stomatal factors related to water stress were involved in inhibiting carbon assimilation. Measurements at saturating external CO2 concentration, however, indicate that stomatal closure was the dominant factor limiting net photosynthesis at low soil temperature. This interpretation was confirmed with additional experiments using Pinus taeda and Picea engelmannii seedlings. Decreases in gas-exchange variables at 5-degrees-C soil temperature were not associated with changes in PSI-shoot. Thus, hormonal factors, localized decreases in PSI-needle, or changes in xylem flux may mediate the response to moderate root chilling.

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