Growth and physiological acclimation to temperature and inorganic carbon availability by two submerged aquatic macrophyte species, Callitriche cophocarpa and Elodea canadensis

Abstract

Abstract1. Interactive effects of temperature and inorganic carbon availability on photosynthetic acclimation and growth of two submerged macrophyte species, Elodea canadensis and Callitriche cophocarpa, were examined to test the hypotheses that: (1) effects of temperature on growth rate and photosynthetic acclimation are suppressed under low inorganic carbon availability; (2) the plants compensate for the reduction in activity of individual enzymes at lower temperatures by increasing the activity per unit plant mass, here exemplified by Rubisco. The experiments were performed in the laboratory where plants were grown in a factorial combination of three temperatures (7–25 °C) and three inorganic carbon regimes.2. The relative growth rate of both species was strongly affected by growth conditions and increased by up to 4·5 times with increased temperature and inorganic carbon availability. The sensitivity to inorganic carbon was greatest at high temperature and the sensitivity to temperature greatest at high carbon concentrations.3. Photosynthetic acclimation occurred in response to growth conditions for both species. The affinity for inorganic carbon and the photosynthetic capacity, both measured at 15 °C, increased with reduced inorganic carbon availability during growth and were greater at warmer than at cooler growth temperature. The acclimative change in photosynthesis was related to the extent of temperature and inorganic carbon stress. Using data for Elodea, a negative relationship between degree of temperature stress and photosynthetic performance was found. In relation to inorganic carbon, a linear increase in CO2 affinity and photosynthetic capacity was found with increased inorganic carbon stress during growth.4. The total Rubisco activity declined with increased inorganic carbon availability during growth and with enhanced growth temperature. In addition, the activation state of Rubisco was higher at cooler than at warmer temperatures for Callitriche. This suggests that low‐temperature grown plants compensate for the temperature‐dependent reduction in activity of the individual Rubisco molecules by enhancing resource allocations towards Rubisco.