Carbon Production and Utilization in Cotton: Inferences From a Carbon Budget

Abstract

A carbon budget for cotton plants at the single leaf, node and whole plant level was constructed using data from four glasshouse experiments. Data were collected on leaf expansion and dry weight growth, net photosynthesis, dark respiration of leaves and stems and on responses of photosynthesis to light in tissues of different age. The potential export of carbon by leaves was calculated as daily net photosynthesis less requirements for growth and dark respiration.

The carbon budget for the single leaf showed that the leaf's maximum requirement occurred 7-8 days after unfolding, at the same time as it became a net carbon exporter. Dark respiration used most carbon at days 12-15 but even then the amount was only about 10% of the carbon fixation by the leaf during the day. Potential carbon export reached a peak in 22-day-old leaves, approximating 1 mg C cm^-2 day ^-1 on a sunny day.

The main finding from the budget was that carbon production and its utilization by bolls is out of phase both at the node and whole plant level which necessitates considerable movement of carbon among nodes and into and out of storage. This finding was confirmed in a study using ¹⁴CO₂ which, while supporting the general hypothesis that the plant's carbon is fed into a pool available to all organs, indicated that there are preferred links between node positions in vertical alignment.