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The large pools of metabolites involved in intercellular metabolite shuttles in C 4 photosynthesis provide enormous flexibility and robustness in a fluctuating light environment
Author(s) -
STITT MARK,
ZHU XINGUANG
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/pce.12290
Subject(s) - metabolite , photosynthesis , photorespiration , c4 photosynthesis , biology , biophysics , chemistry , botany , biochemistry
C 4 photosynthesis confers advantages in terms of decreased photorespiration, high photosynthetic rate and improved water use and nitrogen use efficiency. Its operation is intimately linked with the presence of large metabolite pools that are required to drive metabolite shuttles between the mesophyll and bundle sheath. These large metabolite pools may confer a further, previously unappreciated, advantage to C 4 photosynthesis, acting like capacitors in an electricity grid and buffering against rapid fluctuations in light intensity.