Evidence of ozone-induced visible foliar injury in Hong Kong using Phaseolus vulgaris as a bioindicator

Leung, Felix; Pang, Jacky Y.S.; Tai, Amos P.K.; Lam, Timothy; Tao, Donald K.C.; Sharps, Katrina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3265-1505. 2020 Evidence of ozone-induced visible foliar injury in Hong Kong using Phaseolus vulgaris as a bioindicator [in special issue: Biomonitoring of air pollution] Atmosphere, 11 (3), 266. 16, pp. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030266

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030266

Abstract/Summary

(1) Background: Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with millions of people exposed to severe air pollution. Surface ozone, mostly produced photochemically from anthropogenic precursor gases, is harmful to both humans and vegetation. The phytotoxicity of ozone has been shown to damage plant photosynthesis, induce early leaf death, and retard growth. (2) Methods: We use genotypes of bush bean Phaseolus vulgaris with various degrees of sensitivity to ozone to investigate the impacts of ambient ozone on the morphology and development of the beans. We use ozone-induced foliar injury index and measure the flowering and fruit production to quantify the ozone stress on the plants. (3) Results: We expected that the ozone-sensitive genotype would suffer from a reduction of yield. Results, however, show that the ozone-sensitive genotype suffers higher ozone-induced foliar damage as expected but produces more pods and beans and heavier beans than the ozone-resistant genotype. (4) Conclusions: It is postulated that the high ozone sensitivity of the sensitive genotype causes stress-induced flowering, and therefore results in higher bean yield. A higher than ambient concentration of ozone is needed to negatively impact the yield production of the ozone-sensitive genotype. Meanwhile, ozone-induced foliar damage shows a graduated scale of damage pattern that can be useful for indicating ozone levels. This study demonstrates the usefulness of bioindicators to monitor the phytotoxic effects of ozone pollution in a subtropical city such as Hong Kong.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030266
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	2073-4433
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	bush bean, sensitive and resistant genotype, ambient ozone
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	30 Mar 2020 14:33 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527347

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030266

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

2073-4433

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

bush bean, sensitive and resistant genotype, ambient ozone