Biochemical Adaptation of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) to Technogenic Pollution

Abstract

We have investigated changes in the complex of biochemical parameters reflecting the disturbance of the homeostatic state and the activity of the adaptive reactions in Pinus sylvestris L. under the conditions of technogenic pollution. Disorders of the physiological state of trees growing under the effect of the excessive accumulation of pollutant elements result in changes in a number of parameters: a decrease in the ratio of protein and nonprotein nitrogen fractions in the needles by 52%; a decrease in the total phosphorus and its acid-soluble fraction by 40 and 63%, respectively; a decrease in carbon concentration by 31%; and a decrease in the amount of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids based on the weight of one needle by 23, 40, and 42%, respectively. The activation of protective reactions of pine is proven by an increase in the amount of ascorbic acid in needles by 48%; in the amount of water-soluble phenolic compounds by 29%; in the ratio of Chl. a/Chl. b by 35%; in the ratio of green pigments to yellow by 40%; and in the level of water- and alcohol-soluble proteins 40 and 30%, respectively. The highest activity of biochemical protection components was recorded in trees growing near the Shelekhovsky industrial center, the emissions of which contain a large amount of fluorides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).