Relationships between carbonyl sulfide (COS) and CO2 during leaf gas exchange

Abstract

*Carbonyl sulfide (COS) exchange in C(3) leaves is linked to that of CO(2), providing a basis for the use of COS as a powerful tracer of gross CO(2) fluxes between plants and the atmosphere, a critical element in understanding the response of the land biosphere to global change. *Here, we carried out controlled leaf-scale gas-exchange measurements of COS and CO(2) in representative C(3) plants under a range of light intensities, relative humidities and temperatures, CO(2) and COS concentrations, and following abscisic acid treatments. *No 'respiration-like' emission of COS or detectable compensation point, and no cross-inhibition effects between COS and CO(2) were observed. The mean ratio of COS to CO(2) assimilation flux rates, A(s)/A(c), was c. 1.4 pmol micromol(-1) and the leaf relative uptake (assimilation normalized to ambient concentrations, (A(s)/A(c))(C(a)(c)/C(a)(s))) was 1.6-1.7 across species and conditions, with significant deviations under certain conditions. Stomatal conductance was enhanced by increasing COS, which was possibly mediated by hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) produced from COS hydrolysis, and a correlation was observed between A(s) and leaf discrimination against C(18)OO. *The results provide systematic and quantitative information necessary for the use of COS in photosynthesis and carbon-cycle research on the physiological to global scales.