Elevated CO2 Increases Growth and Photosynthetic Efficiency of Citrus Rootstock Seedlings

Abstract

The objectives of these greenhouse experiments were to determine the effects of elevated CO2 on growth, mineral nutrition, and gas exchange physiology of seedlings of four commercial Citrus rootstocks. We grew well-watered and fertilized seedlings of `Volkamer' lemon (VL), `Cleopatra' mandarin (CL), `Swingle' citrumelo (SW), and `Troyer' citrange (TC) cultivars (in decreasing order of vigor) in unshaded, air-conditioned greenhouses at ambient CO2 (350 μmol/mol) or 2x ambient CO2 for 5 months. CL was the smallest cultivar, had the lowest root/shoot (r/s) ratio,and lowest rates of CO2 assimilation (A) of leaves, transpiration (E), and water-use efficiency, (A/E). Overall, daily whole-plant water use was correlated with single-leaf E. Elevated CO2 increased both shoot and root growth similarly; therefore, r/s was not affected. Elevated CO2 increased A, leaf dry wt/area, and leaf C, but decreased transpiration and leaf N so that leaf C/N, A/N, and A/E all increased. Although plant size of the four cultivars ranked similarly at both ambient and high CO2, the more-vigorous cultivars grew proportionately more at high CO2 than the less-vigorous cultivars. Growing cultivars at elevated CO2 can yield insights into mechanisms determining vigor and relationships between A and plant growth.