Light and growth temperature alter carbon isotope discrimination and estimated bundle sheath leakiness in C4 grasses and dicots

Abstract

We combined measurements of short-term (during gas exchange) and long-term (from plant dry matter) carbon isotope discrimination to estimate CO(2) leakiness from bundle sheath cells in six C(4) species (three grasses and three dicots) as a function of leaf insertion level, growth temperature and short-term irradiance. The two methods for determining leakiness yielded similar results (P > 0.05) for all species except Setaria macrostachya, which may be explained by the leaf of this species not being accommodating to gas exchange. Leaf insertion level had no effect on leakiness. At the highest growth temperature (36 degrees C) leakiness was lower than at the two lower growth temperatures (16 degrees C and 26 degrees C), between which no differences in leakiness were apparent. Higher irradiance decreased leakiness in three species, while it had no significant effect on the others (there was an opposite trend in two species). The inverse response to increasing irradiance was most marked in the two NAD-ME dicots (both Amaranthus species), which both showed almost 50% leakiness at low light (300 micromol quanta m(-2) s(-1)) compared to about 30% at high light (1,600 micromol quanta m(-2) s(-1)). NADP-ME subtype grasses had lower leakiness than NAD-ME dicots. Although there were exceptions, particularly in the effect of irradiance on leakiness in Sorghum and Boerhavia, we conclude that conditions favourable to C(4) photosynthesis (high temperature and high light) lead to a reduction in leakiness.