Apoplastic ascorbate contributes to the differential ozone sensitivity in two varieties of winter wheat under fully open-air field conditions

We studied leaf apoplastic ascorbates in relation to ozone (O3) sensitivity in two winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties: Yangfumai 2 (Y2) and Yangmai 16 (Y16). The plants were exposed to elevated O3 concentration 27% higher than the ambient O3 concentration in a fully open-air field from tillering stage until final maturity. The less sensitive variety Y16 had higher concentration of reduced ascorbate in the apoplast and leaf tissue by 33.5% and 12.0%, respectively, than those in the more sensitive variety Y2, whereas no varietal difference was detected in the decline of reduced ascorbate concentration in response to elevated O3. No effects of O3 or variety were detected in either oxidized ascorbate or the redox state of ascorbate in the apoplast and leaf tissue. The lower ascorbate concentrations in both apoplast and leaf tissue should have contributed to the higher O3 sensitivity in variety Y2.