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2 H‐fractionations during the biosynthesis of carbohydrates and lipids imprint a metabolic signal on the δ 2 H values of plant organic compounds
Author(s) -
Cormier MarcAndré,
Werner Roland A.,
Sauer Peter E.,
Gröcke Darren R.,
Leuenberger Markus C.,
Wieloch Thomas,
Schleucher Jürgen,
Kahmen Ansgar
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.15016
Subject(s) - biogeochemistry , terrestrial plant , environmental chemistry , isotopes of carbon , plant physiology , stable isotope ratio , chemistry , organic matter , ecosystem , metabolic pathway , isotope , metabolism , botany , biology , total organic carbon , ecology , biochemistry , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
Summary Hydrogen (H) isotope ratio (δ 2 H) analyses of plant organic compounds have been applied to assess ecohydrological processes in the environment despite a large part of the δ 2 H variability observed in plant compounds not being fully elucidated. We present a conceptual biochemical model based on empirical H isotope data that we generated in two complementary experiments that clarifies a large part of the unexplained variability in the δ 2 H values of plant organic compounds. The experiments demonstrate that information recorded in the δ 2 H values of plant organic compounds goes beyond hydrological signals and can also contain important information on the carbon and energy metabolism of plants. Our model explains where 2 H‐fractionations occur in the biosynthesis of plant organic compounds and how these 2 H‐fractionations are tightly coupled to a plant's carbon and energy metabolism. Our model also provides a mechanistic basis to introduce H isotopes in plant organic compounds as a new metabolic proxy for the carbon and energy metabolism of plants and ecosystems. Such a new metabolic proxy has the potential to be applied in a broad range of disciplines, including plant and ecosystem physiology, biogeochemistry and palaeoecology.