Plant stress analysis: Application of prompt, delayed chlorophyll fluorescence and 820 nm modulated reflectance. Insights from independent experiments

Nine short-term independent studies were carried out with two M-PEA units on several plant species differing in their functional traits (woody evergreen, woody deciduous, herbaceous) and exposed to different kind of abiotic stress (drought, salt, ozone, UV radiation). Aim of the study is to check the consistency of plant responses, assessed through three sets of simultaneously measured signals: Prompt Fluorescence (PF), Delayed Fluorescence (DF) and Modulated Reflectance of 820 nm light (MR). The decrease of FV/FM and F0, the increase of VJ and VI were the most common responses related to PF parameters. The decrease of vox and vred as well the increase of MRmin were common response of MR. DF showed species-treatment specific behaviours. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) suggests that the combination of PF and MR parameters represents a powerful tool for plant stress phenotyping, whereas MR parameters are linked to physiological strategies, related to different functional groups, to cope with stress factors.