شاخص‌های فیزیولوژیکی کمبود آهن در درختان چنار(Plantanus orintalis L.) فضای سبز شهر اصفهان

Iron chlorosis is an important disorder of plane trees (Plantanus orintalis L.) in green space of Isfahan city. Before using reclamation methods for correcting Fe chlorosis, it is necessary to find a suitable index for evaluating plant Fe status. Therefore, activity of glutathione peroxidase (GP) enzyme and concentration of carotenoids and chlorophyll a and b pigments, as physiological indices of active Fe, were compared to total Fe concentration in leaves to evaluate Fe status in plane trees. For this purpose, severity of chlorosis of plane trees at different regions of Isfahan city was recorded. Then, 73 trees with different severity of chlorosis symptoms were selected and their leaves were sampled on July 2009 and 2010. Concentration of Fe, chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids in leaves as well as activity of GP enzyme were measured. Results showed large variation in leaf Fe concentration between young and old leaves and also between leaves with different chlorosis severity symptoms. No correlation was found between leaf Fe chlorophyll concentration and severity of chlorosis symptoms. Also, concentrations of chlorophyll a in young and old leaves with very severe chlorosis symptoms were 44 and 37% smaller than that in young and old leaves with slight chlorosis symptoms, respectively. Concentration of chlorophyll b in young and old leaves with very severe chlorosis symptoms were 40 and 37% smaller than that in young and old leaves with slight chlorosis symptoms, respectively. Concentration of carotenoids varied among young and old leaves with different severity of chlorosis symptoms. Activity of GP in young leaves was also reduced by intensifying severity of chlorosis symptoms. According to the result of the present study, activity of GP enzyme and leaf concentration of carotenoids and chlorophyll a, as suitable physiological indices of active Fe, had close correlation with severity of Fe chlorosis in plane trees. Also, deficiency of active Fe in leaves is a probable reason of chlorosis symptoms in plane trees.