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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Variation in mesophyll conductance among Australian wheat genotypes

Eisrat Jahan A , Jeffrey S. Amthor A , Graham D. Farquhar B , Richard Trethowan A and Margaret M. Barbour A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney, Private Bag 4011, Narellan, NSW 2567, Australia.

B Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Biology Place, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: margaret.barbour@sydney.edu.au

Functional Plant Biology 41(6) 568-580 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP13254
Submitted: 26 August 2013  Accepted: 14 January 2014   Published: 10 February 2014

Abstract

CO2 diffusion from substomatal intercellular cavities to sites of carboxylation in chloroplasts (mesophyll conductance; gm) limits photosynthetic rate and influences leaf intrinsic water-use efficiency (A/gsw). We investigated genotypic variability of gm and effects of gm on A/gsw among eleven wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes under light-saturated conditions and at either 2 or 21% O2. Significant variation in gm and A/gsw was found between genotypes at both O2 concentrations, but there was no significant effect of O2 concentration on gm. Further, gm was correlated with photosynthetic rate among the 11 genotypes, but was unrelated to stomatal conductance. The effect of leaf age differed between genotypes, with gm being lower in older leaves for one genotype but not another. This study demonstrates a high level of variation in gm between wheat genotypes; 0.5 to 1.0 μmol m−2 s−1 bar−1. Further, leaf age effects indicate that great care must be taken to choose suitable leaves in studies of genotypic variation in gm and water-use efficiency.

Additional keywords: day respiration, leaf internal conductance, mesophyll limitation, Triticum aestivum.


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