Research articleDeciphering the ecophysiological traits involved during water stress acclimation and recovery of the threatened wild carnation, Dianthus inoxianus

•Diffusional limitations to CO2 cause photosynthesis decrease during drought stress.•Photosystems integrity allows a great capacity of recovery after water stress.•A fine control of leaves water status influences the tolerance to a drought event.•Future climate change could affect the D. inoxianus photosynthetic capacity.

Dianthus inoxianus is an endangered species endemic from a small littoral area in the SW Spain, with an unusual flowering season under the adverse conditions of dry Mediterranean summer. A greenhouse experiment was designed to assess the physiological traits involved in drought acclimation and recovery of 3-month-old plants. The evolution of plant water status, leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic pigments concentrations and a quantitative analysis of photosynthesis limitations were followed during water stress and re-watering. Our results indicated that the plant water status, Ψw and RWC, only decreased at the end of the drought period (18th day), together with the net photosynthetic rate, AN. Photosynthetic impair was mainly caused by diffusional limitations (SL and MCL) of CO2, as indicated the joint and marked decrease of gs, gm and Ci during drought period, while Vc,max did not vary. After rewatering, leaf water status recovered faster than photosynthetic one, reaching control values on day 1 after recovery, while AN, gm and Ci took 7 days. Additionally, gs showed the slowest recovery taking 15 days, but gs decrease was enough to keep Ψw and RWC at constant values throughout the experiment. Results suggest a high tolerance and recovery of D. inoxianus from severe drought periods. This drought tolerance was also reflected in the stability of its photochemical apparatus and pigments concentrations, as indicated the constant values of Fv/Fm, ФPSII and pigments concentrations through experimental period. However, prolonged drought events due to global climate change could negatively affect the physiological mechanisms of this species.