Physiological Characteristics of Expanding and Expanded Leaves of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Assyrtiko in Climate Change Conditions

Abstract

The impact of climatic change on viticulture is expected to be severe in the Mediterranean area in the future. The scope of this study is the evaluation of the leaf functional and optical properties of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivar (cv.) Assyrtiko and its response to abiotic stress conditions (elevated temperature and water deficiency) caused by climatic change. Plants of grapevine cv. Assyrtiko were placed in a growth chamber in the Botany Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece and four indoor environmental treatments were applied, concerning temperature (ambient versus ambient +2 °C) and water availability (well-watered versus water stressed). The photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a and b and carotenoids) were determined as well as the leaf area, dry weight and specific leaf area in expanding and fully expanded leaves of the treated plants. Using a UV/VIS spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer Lambda-950), equipped with an integrating sphere, the reflectance (R) and the transmittance (T), were measured in situ, between 250 and 2500 nm wavelength, in both adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces of the grapevine cv. Assyrtiko and the absorbance (A) was calculated. It is likely that leaf chlorophyll content declined under drought and elevated temperature conditions.

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