Apparent Reassimilation of Respiratory Carbon Dioxide by Different Plant Species

Abstract

AbstractDifferences among species in respiration rates in CO2‐free air, in light and dark, were studied using the standard leaf chamber technique and the infrared carbon dioxide analyzer. Photosynthesis, transpiration and respiration were measured. In all species studied, rates of respiration were considerably higher in dark than in light. This effect was assumed to be due to reassimilation of the respiratory CO2. A resistance analogy model was derived to account for the apparent differences in internal recycling of CO2 among species; the differences were correlated with differences in maximum photosynthetic rates in normal air and optimal conditions (P310) and with internal resistances to CO2 diffusion (rk). Species with high P310 and low rk appear to reassimilate all the endogenous CO2, whereas other species with lower P310 and higher rk appear to reassimilate only a part of their respiratory CO2.Experiments with the photosynthetic inhibitor, 3‐(3,4‐dichlorophcnyl)‐l,l‐dimethyl urea (DCMU), indicated that species with zero respiration in CO2‐free air and light release respiratory CO2 when photosynthesis is inhibited. It is concluded that the CO2 released in the presence of DCMU represents respiratory CO2 which recycles to photosynthesis under normal conditions.