The elevated anthocyanin level in the shaded peel of ‘Anjou’ pear enhances its tolerance to high temperature under high light

Pigments, chlorophyll fluorescence, dark respiration, and the antioxidant system in the shaded peel of green ‘Anjou’ pear (Pyrus communis L.) and its bud mutation, red ‘Anjou’, were compared in response to high peel temperature, high light alone or in combination to determine the protective role of anthocyanins under high temperature with or without light. Under high temperature treatment alone, no difference in the maximum quantum yield of PSII (F_V/F_M) was detected between red ‘Anjou’ and green ‘Anjou’; the superoxide dismutase activity and the glutathione pool were up-regulated in green ‘Anjou’ peel but remained unchanged in red ‘Anjou’ peel. Under high temperature coupled with high light, the F_V/F_M of green ‘Anjou’ peel was decreased to a lower value than that of red ‘Anjou’, and significant interaction was detected between temperature and light for both cultivars. Furthermore, the difference in F_V/F_M between red ‘Anjou’ and green ‘Anjou’ under high temperature coupled with high light was significantly larger than that under high light alone, indicating that this larger difference was caused by the interaction between high temperature and high light as no significant difference was detected in F_V/F_M between the two cultivars under high temperature treatment alone at any sampling point. It is concluded that the elevated anthocyanin level in the shaded peel of red ‘Anjou’ does not alter its thermotolerance in the dark, but makes it more tolerant of high temperature under high light.