Gas exchanges and carbohydrate metabolism in orangetrees with citrus variegated chlorosis

Gas exchanges, sucrose, starch and reducing sugar contents were analyzed in leaves of orange trees with and without Citrus Variegated Chlorosis (CVC), a disease caused by the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa. Healthy plants (HP) and diseased plants (DP) were evaluated 20 and 26 months after bacterial inoculation, in October 1998 and April 1999, respectively. On the first evaluation date, CO2 assimilation rates for HP were greater than DP in the early morning and midday, but on the second date they were greater in HP all along the day. On the first date, there was an increase in the sucrose content of DP at 15:00 h and 17:00 h in relation to HP. On the second evaluation date, DP presented greater reducing sugar content only in the early morning while sucrose content showed a decrease at 15:00 h. Also, on the second date, the concentrations of starch were always lower for DP compared to HP. It is suggested that this variation in starch levels might be related to energy availability in DP, as they also showed lower photosynthetic rates. Soluble sugars did not show any correlation with the disease and photosynthetic parameters.