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).