Photosynthetic Characteristics
We investigated whether the delay in leaf senescence was related to
improved photosynthetic performance in maize plants. Our results
revealed that the two sides of maize under partial light (PF, PS)
conditions show significantly different responses as compared to those
which were exposed to normal light (NF, NS). Partial light-induced
greater photosynthetic activity (increasing 5.3% of photosynthetic rate
(Pn ), 47.1% stomatal conductance
(Gs), and 4.0% of transpiration rate
(Tr ) ) and increased photosynthetic pigments as
compared to NL (Table 2). Under PL, the PS increased 10.3% and 13.3%
in photosynthetic activity and Chlb content at the later stage (days
from 20 to 40), respectively, while PF caused a rise in Chla content and
Chla/Chlb ratio. Contrarily, under normal light conditions, the two
treatments (NF, NS) did not show a significant difference in
photosynthesis rate and photosynthetic pigments accumulation (Table 2;
Supporting Information Figure S3).