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Differences in photosynthetic characteristics among northern and southern C 4 plants
Author(s) -
Potvin Catherine
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1987.tb01981.x
Subject(s) - echinochloa , photosynthesis , eleusine indica , stomatal conductance , biology , botany , echinochloa crus galli , horticulture , weed
Both responses to short‐term changes of temperature and to chilling under high light were analyzed in populations of Echinochloa crus‐galli var. crus‐galli (L.) Beauv. from Québec. North Carolina and Mississippi to improve the understanding of C 4 photosynthesis at low temperature. Comparison also included plants of Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. from Mississippi to provide for differences among species and populations. Plants were grown at two thermoperiods (28/22°C, 21/15°C). After transfer from cool (21/15°C) to warm (28/22°C) growth conditions, Echinochloa from Mississippi achieved the highest photosynthetic rates. Plants from Québec maintained the highest rates of CO 2 uptake upon transfer to cool conditions. Exposure to 7°C for 3 days at a photon fluence rate of 1000 μmol m− 2 s− 1 resulted in a reduction in the growth rates of all populations. This reduction was paralleled by a decrease in net photosynthesis and in stomatal conductance. Following chilling under hight light, the reduction in growth parameters was less important for plants from Québec than for the other populations. It suggests that, among other characteristics, northern plants had developed a certain tolerance to chilling under light.