Transient shade and drought have divergent impacts on the temperature sensitivity of dark respiration in leaves of Geum urbanum
Martijn Slot A C , Joana Zaragoza-Castells A and Owen K. Atkin B DA Department of Biology, University of York, PO Box 373, York YO10 5YW, UK.
B Functional Ecology Group, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
C Present address: Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: owen.atkin@anu.edu.au
Functional Plant Biology 35(11) 1135-1146 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP08113
Submitted: 7 April 2008 Accepted: 1 August 2008 Published: 28 November 2008
Abstract
The respiratory response of plants to temperature is a critical biotic feedback in the study of global climate change. Few studies, however, have investigated the effects of environmental stresses on the short-term temperature response of dark respiration (Rdark) at the leaf level. We investigated the effect of shade and transient drought on the temperature sensitivity (Q10; the proportional increase in respiration per 10°C increase in temperature) of Rdark of Geum urbanum L. in controlled experiments. Shade effects were most pronounced following sustained, near-darkness, when rates of leaf Rdark at a set measuring temperature (25°C) and the Q10 of Rdark were both reduced. By contrast, rates of leaf Rdark and the Q10 of Rdark both increased in response to the onset of severe water stress. Water stress was associated with a rapid (but reversible) decline in rates of light-saturated photosynthesis (Psat), stomatal closure (gs) and progressive wilting. Re-watering resulted in a rapid recovery of Psat, gs and a decline in the Q10 of Rdark (due to larger proportional reductions in the rate of Rdark measured at 25°C compared with those measured at 14°C). The concentration of soluble sugars in leaves did not decline during drought (5–7 day cycles) or shading, but during drought the starch concentration dropped, suggesting starch to sugar conversion helped to maintain homeostatic concentrations of soluble sugars. Thus, the drought and shade induced changes in Rdark were unlikely to be due to stress-induced changes in substrate supply. Collectively, the data highlight the dynamic responses of respiratory Q10 values to changes in water supply and sustained reductions in growth irradiance. If widespread, such changes in the Q10 of leaf respiration could have important implications for predicted rates of ecosystem carbon exchange in the future, particularly in areas that experience more frequent droughts.
Additional keywords: light, Q10, photosynthesis, water stress.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) studentship (NERC/S/I/2003/11431; MS) a NUFFIC grant (TP 03/023; MS) from the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education and a grant from the NERC in the UK (NER/A/S/2001/01186; OKA). We thank David Sherlock for his expert technical assistance.
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