The effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and temperature on carbon partitioning, source‐sink relations and respiration

Abstract. Herbaceous C3 plants grown in elevated CO2 show increases in carbon assimilation and carbohydrate accumulation (particularly starch) within source leaves. Although changes in the partitioning of biomass between root and shoot occur, the proportion of this extra assimilate made available for sink growth is not known. Root:shoot ratios tend to increase for CO2-enriched herbaceous plants and decrease for CO2-enriched trees. Root:shoot ratios for cereals tend to remain constant. In contrast, elevated temperatures decrease carbohydrate accumulation within source and sink regions of a plant and decrease root:shoot ratios. Allometric analysis of at least two species showing changes in root: shoot ratios due to elevated CO2 show no alteration in the whole-plant partitioning of biomass. Little information is available for interactions between temperature and CO2. Cold-adapted plants show little response to elevated levels of CO2, with some species showing a decline in biomass accumulation. In general though, increasing temperature will increase sucrose synthesis, transport and utilization for CO2-enriched plants and decrease carbohydrate accumulation within the leaf. Literature reports are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that sucrose is a major factor in the control of plant carbon partitioning. A model is presented in support.

[1]  David T. Tissue,et al.  Response of Eriophorum Vaginatum to Elevated CO_2 and Temperature in the Alaskan Tussock Tundra , 1987 .

[2]  W. Pearsall.  Growth Studies VI. On the Relative Sizes of Growing Plant Organs , 1927 .

[3]  L. Ho.  Effects of C02 enrichment on the rates of photosynthesis and translocation of tomato leaves , 1977 .

[4]  B. Buchanan,et al.  Leaf Cytosolic Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase : A Potential Target Site in Low Temperature Stress. , 1983, Plant physiology.

[5]  B. Acock,et al.  Crop responses to carbon dioxide doubling: a literature survey , 1986 .

[6]  C. Baysdorfer,et al.  Photosynthate supply and utilization in alfalfa : a developmental shift from a source to a sink limitation of photosynthesis. , 1985, Plant physiology.

[7]  J. Farrar,et al.  MODIFICATION OF RESPIRATION AND CARBOHYDRATE STATUS OF BARLEY ROOTS BY SELECTIVE PRUNING , 1986 .

[8]  J. Morgan,et al.  Regulation of Grain Number in Wheat: Genotypic Difference and Responses to Applied Abscisic Acid and to High Temperature , 1985 .

[9]  A. Gosselin,et al.  Acclimation of Two Tomato Species to High Atmospheric CO(2): II. Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase and Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase. , 1989, Plant physiology.

[10]  S. Huber,et al.  Effects of CO2 enrichment on photosynthesis and photosynthate partitioning in soybean (Glycine max) leaves , 1984 .

[11]  M. A. Porter,et al.  Acclimation to High CO(2) in Bean : Carbonic Anhydrase and Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase. , 1984, Plant physiology.

[12]  R. Ackerson,et al.  CO2‐Enrichment Effects on Soybean Physiology. II. Effects of Stage‐Specific CO2 Exposure1 , 1984 .

[13]  D. Patterson,et al.  Potential Effects of Global Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment on the Growth and Competitiveness of C3 and C4 Weed and Crop Plants , 1980, Weed Science.

[14]  W. Oechel,et al.  Effects of CO2 enrichment and nutrition on growth, photosynthesis, and nutrient concentration of Alaskan tundra plant species , 1986 .

[15]  B. Grodzinski,et al.  Effect of Oxygen Concentration on C-Photoassimilate Transport from Leaves of Salvia splendens L. , 1984, Plant physiology.

[16]  P. Jolliffe,et al.  The influence of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations on the partitioning of carbon in source leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris , 1988 .

[17]  D. Geiger,et al.  Sources of sucrose translocated from illuminated sugar beet source leaves. , 1983, Plant physiology.

[18]  G. Bowes,et al.  Photosynthesis and Growth of Water Hyacinth under CO(2) Enrichment. , 1986, Plant physiology.

[19]  H. Lambers,et al.  Respiration of crop species under CO2 enrichment , 1985 .

[20]  Robert W. Pearcy,et al.  The effect of leaf nitrogen and temperature on the CO2 response of photosynthesis in the C3 dicot Chenopodium album L. , 1990 .

[21]  R. Brouwer.  Nutritive influences on the distribution of dry matter in the plant , 1962 .

[22]  B. Kimball.  Carbon Dioxide and Agricultural Yield: An Assemblage and Analysis of 430 Prior Observations1 , 1983 .

[23]  J. Wilson.  A review of evidence on the control of shoot: root ratio , 1988 .

[24]  Judith F. Thomas,et al.  Influence of Elevated CO2 on Growth of Soybean Plants1 , 1984 .

[25]  J. Farrar,et al.  Control of barley root respiration , 1990 .

[26]  I. Bingham,et al.  Regulation of respiration in roots of barley , 1988 .

[27]  H. Lambers,et al.  The effect of an elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on growth, photosynthesis and respiration of Plantago major , 1988 .

[28]  B. Patterson,et al.  Responses of Plants to Low, Nonfreezing Temperatures: Proteins, Metabolism, and Acclimation , 1982 .

[29]  V. Wittenbach,et al.  CO2‐Enrichment Effects on Soybean Physiology. I. Effects of Long‐Term CO2 Exposure1 , 1984 .

[30]  K. Mott.  Sensing of atmospheric CO2 by plants , 1990 .

[31]  P. Jolliffe,et al.  Leaf injury to bean plants grown in carbon dioxide enriched atmospheres , 1985 .

[32]  M. Ford,et al.  Effect of CO2 Concentration on Growth of Sugar-beet, Barley, Kale, and Maize , 1967 .

[33]  J. Sheen,et al.  Metabolic repression of transcription in higher plants. , 1990, The Plant cell.

[34]  J. Bunce.  Short- and long-term inhibition of respiratory carbon dioxide efflux by elevated carbon dioxide. , 1990 .

[35]  Michael A. Grusak,et al.  Cold-Inhibited Phloem Translocation in Sugar Beet: II. CHARACTERIZATION AND LOCALIZATION OF THE SLOW-COOLING RESPONSE , 1985 .

[36]  C. E. Powell,et al.  White Clover N2-Fixation in Response to Root Temperature and Nitrate II. N2-FIXATION, RESPIRATION, AND NITRATE REDUCTASE ACTIVITY , 1989 .

[37]  W. A. Brun,et al.  Effect of Atmospheric CO(2) Enrichment on Growth, Nonstructural Carbohydrate Content, and Root Nodule Activity in Soybean. , 1982, Plant physiology.

[38]  H. Lambers,et al.  Effect of photosynthesis and carbohydrate status on respiratory rates and the involvement of the alternative pathway in leaf respiration. , 1983, Plant physiology.

[39]  A. McNulty,et al.  The relationship between respiration and temperature in leaves of the arctic plant Saxifraga cernua , 1987 .

[40]  D. Egli,et al.  Temperature Response of Seed Growth Characteristics of Soybeans1 , 1980 .

[41]  I. Rao,et al.  Leaf phosphate status, photosynthesis, and carbon partitioning in sugar beet: I. Changes in growth, gas exchange, and calvin cycle enzymes. , 1989, Plant physiology.

[42]  H. Lambers.  Respiration in Intact Plants and Tissues: Its Regulation and Dependence on Environmental Factors, Metabolism and Invaded Organisms , 1985 .

[43]  T. H. Thomas.  Hormonal Control of Assimilate Movement and Compartmentation , 1986 .

[44]  J. Gale,et al.  The effect of high levels of carbon dioxide on dark respiration and growth of plants , 1985 .

[45]  C. W. Chang,et al.  Carbon dioxide and senescence in cotton plants. , 1975, Plant physiology.

[46]  B. Grodzinski,et al.  Photosynthetic Gas Exchange, Photoassimilate Partitioning, and Development in Tomato under CO2 Enrichment , 1987 .

[47]  G. Buchanan,et al.  Yellow Nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) Competition with Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) , 1980, Weed Science.

[48]  M. J. Wagner,et al.  Regulation of the activity of the alternative oxidase in callus forming discs from potato tubers , 1983 .

[49]  B. Grodzinski,et al.  Effects of CO2 Enrichment on Growth and Photoassimilate Transport in a Dwarf Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Cultivar) , 1985 .

[50]  R. Gifford.  Growth Pattern, Carbon Dioxide Exchange and Dry Weight Distribution in Wheat Growing Under Differing Photosynthetic Environments , 1977 .

[51]  D. Hannapel.  Differential expression of potato tuber protein genes. , 1990, Plant physiology.

[52]  M. Peet,et al.  Effects of High Atmospheric CO(2) and Sink Size on Rates of Photosynthesis of a Soybean Cultivar. , 1981, Plant physiology.

[53]  A. Herold.  REGULATION OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY SINK ACTIVITY–THE MISSING LINK , 1980 .

[54]  I. F. Wardlaw,et al.  Tansley Review No. 27 The control of carbon partitioning in plants. , 1990, The New phytologist.

[55]  C. Pollock,et al.  The Effect of Low Temperature upon Starch, Sucrose and Fructan Synthesis in Leaves , 1987 .

[56]  T. Sharkey,et al.  Starch and Sucrose Synthesis in Phaseolus vulgaris as Affected by Light, CO(2), and Abscisic Acid. , 1985, Plant physiology.

[57]  A. J. Walker,et al.  Carbon Translocation in the Tomato: Pathways of Carbon Metabolism in the Fruit– , 1978 .

[58]  H. Brown,et al.  The influence of varying amounts of carbon dioxide in the air on the photosynthetic process of leaves and on the mode of growth of plants , 1902, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London.

[59]  M. Brenner.  The Role of Hormones in Photosynthate Partitioning and Seed Filling , 1987 .

[60]  C. Pollock,et al.  TANSLEY REVIEW NO. 5 FRUCTANS AND THE METABOLISM OF SUCROSE IN VASCULAR PLANTS. , 1986, The New phytologist.

[61]  S. Huber.  Interspecific Variation in Activity and Regulation of Leaf Sucrose Phosphate Synthetase , 1981 .

[62]  C. Eagles.  Variation in the Soluble Carbohydrate Content of Climatic Races of Dactylis Glomerata (Cocksfoot) at Different Temperatures , 1967 .

[63]  M. Peet.  CO2 enrichment of soybeans. Effects of leaf/pod ratio , 1984 .

[64]  P. Kerr,et al.  Association between sucrose-phosphate synthase activity in leaves and plant growth rate in response to altered aerial temperature , 1985 .

[65]  Dorothy Hammond.  THE EXPRESSION OF GENES FOR LEAF SHAPE IN GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM L. AND GOSSYPIUM ARBOREUM L. I. THE EXPRESSION OF GENES FOR LEAF SHAPE IN GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM L , 1941 .

[66]  R. Luxmoore,et al.  Nutrient uptake and growth responses of Virginia pine to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide , 1986 .

[67]  S. Delrot,et al.  Changes in apoplastic and intracellular leaf sugars induced by the blocking of export in Vicia faba , 1986 .

[68]  T. Hrubec,et al.  Effects of CO(2) Enrichment and Carbohydrate Content on the Dark Respiration of Soybeans. , 1985, Plant physiology.

[69]  A. Carmi,et al.  Starch Accumulation and Photosynthetic Activity in Primary Leaves of Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) , 1979 .

[70]  A. J. Cairns,et al.  Fructan biosynthesis in excised leaves of Lolium temulentum L.. II. Changes in fructosyl transferase activity following excision and application of inhibitors of gene expression , 1988 .

[71]  M. Peet,et al.  Acclimation to High CO(2) in Monoecious Cucumbers : II. Carbon Exchange Rates, Enzyme Activities, and Starch and Nutrient Concentrations. , 1986, Plant physiology.

[72]  T. Rufty,et al.  Assimilate Utilization in the Leaf Canopy and Whole-Plant Growth of Soybean During Acclimation to Elevated CO2 , 1987, Botanical Gazette.

[73]  R. Hunt.  Further Observations on Root—Shoot Equilibria in Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) , 1975 .

[74]  P. Kriedemann,et al.  GROWTH RESPONSE AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC ACCLIMATION TO CO2: COMPARATIVE BEHAVIOUR IN TWO C3 CROP SPECIES , 1984 .

[75]  B. Strain,et al.  Effect of carbon dioxide enrichment on chlorophyll content, starch content and starch grain structure in Trifolium subterraneum leaves , 1981 .

[76]  S. Idso,et al.  Effects of atmospheric CO2 enrichment on plant growth: the interactive role of air temperature , 1987 .

[77]  P. Wolswinkel.  Phloem unloading and turgor‐sensitive transport: Factors involved in sink control of assimilate partitioning , 1985 .

[78]  A. Gosselin,et al.  Acclimation of Two Tomato Species to High Atmospheric CO(2): I. Sugar and Starch Concentrations. , 1989, Plant physiology.

[79]  E. Madsen.  Effect of CO2-Concentration on the Accumulation of Starch and Sugar in Tomato Leaves , 1968 .

[80]  R. Norby,et al.  Carbon allocation, root exudation and mycorrhizal colonization of Pinus echinata seedlings grown under CO(2) enrichment. , 1987, Tree physiology.