Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1986 Feb;80(2):409–414. doi: 10.1104/pp.80.2.409

C3-C4 Intermediate Species in Alternanthera (Amaranthaceae) 1

Leaf Anatomy, CO2 Compensation Point, Net CO2 Exchange and Activities of Photosynthetic Enzymes

Gedupudi Rajendrudu 1, Jasty S R Prasad 1, V S Rama Das 1
PMCID: PMC1075126  PMID: 16664634

Abstract

Two naturally occurring species of the genus Alternanthera, namely A. ficoides and A. tenella, were identified as C3-C4 intermediates based on leaf anatomy, photosynthetic CO2 compensation point (Γ), O2 response of г, light intensity response of г, and the activities of key enzymes of photosynthesis. A. ficoides and A. tenella exhibited a less distinct Kranz-like leaf anatomy with substantial accumulation of starch both in mesophyll and bundle sheath cells. Photosynthetic CO2 compensation points of these two intermediate species at 29°C were much lower than in C3 plants and ranged from 18 to 22 microliters per liter. Although A. ficoides and A. tenella exhibited similar intermediacy in г, the apparent photorespiratory component of O2 inhibition in A. ficoides is lower than in A. tenella. The г progressively decreases from 35 microliters per liter at lowest light intensity to 18 microliters per liter at highest light intensity in A. tenella. It was, however, constant in A. ficoides at 20 to 25 microliters per liter between light intensities measured. The rates of net photosynthesis at 21% O2 and 29°C by A. ficoides and A. tenella were 25 to 28 milligrams CO2 per square decimeter per hour which are intermediate between values obtained for Tridax procumbens and A. pungens, C3 and C4 species, respectively. The activities of key enzymes of C4 photosynthesis, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, pyruvate Pi dikinase, NAD malic enzyme, NADP malic enzyme and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in the two intermediates, A. ficoides and A. tenella are very low or insignificant. Results indicated that the relatively low apparent photorespiratory component in these two species is presumably the basis for the C3-C4 intermediate photosynthesis.

Full text

PDF
409

Images in this article

411Fig. 2
on p.411

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Arnon D. I. COPPER ENZYMES IN ISOLATED CHLOROPLASTS. POLYPHENOLOXIDASE IN BETA VULGARIS. Plant Physiol. 1949 Jan;24(1):1–15. doi: 10.1104/pp.24.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brown R. H., Morgan J. A. Photosynthesis of Grass Species Differing in Carbon Dioxide Fixation Pathways : VI. DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND LIGHT INTENSITY ON PHOTORESPIRATION IN C(3), C(4), AND INTERMEDIATE SPECIES. Plant Physiol. 1980 Oct;66(4):541–544. doi: 10.1104/pp.66.4.541. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hatch M. D., Tsuzuki M., Edwards G. E. Determination of NAD Malic Enzyme in Leaves of C(4) Plants : EFFECTS OF MALATE DEHYDROGENASE AND OTHER FACTORS. Plant Physiol. 1982 Feb;69(2):483–491. doi: 10.1104/pp.69.2.483. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Holaday A. S., Black C. C. Comparative characterization of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in c(3), c(4), and c(3)-c(4) intermediate panicum species. Plant Physiol. 1981 Feb;67(2):330–334. doi: 10.1104/pp.67.2.330. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Holaday A. S., Chollet R. Photosynthetic/Photorespiratory Carbon Metabolism in the C(3)-C(4) Intermediate Species, Moricandia arvensis and Panicum milioides. Plant Physiol. 1983 Nov;73(3):740–745. doi: 10.1104/pp.73.3.740. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Holbrook G. P., Jordan D. B., Chollet R. Reduced Apparent Photorespiration by the C(3)-C(4) Intermediate Species, Moricandia arvensis and Panicum milioides. Plant Physiol. 1985 Mar;77(3):578–583. doi: 10.1104/pp.77.3.578. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ku M. S., Monson R. K., Littlejohn R. O., Nakamoto H., Fisher D. B., Edwards G. E. Photosynthetic Characteristics of C(3)-C(4) Intermediate Flaveria Species : I. Leaf Anatomy, Photosynthetic Responses to O(2) and CO(2), and Activities of Key Enzymes in the C(3) and C(4) Pathways. Plant Physiol. 1983 Apr;71(4):944–948. doi: 10.1104/pp.71.4.944. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ku S. B., Shieh Y. J., Reger B. J., Black C. C. Photosynthetic Characteristics of Portulaca grandiflora, a Succulent C(4) Dicot : CELLULAR COMPARTMENTATION OF ENZYMES AND ACID METABOLISM. Plant Physiol. 1981 Nov;68(5):1073–1080. doi: 10.1104/pp.68.5.1073. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Monson R. K., Stidham M. A., Williams G. J., Edwards G. E., Uribe E. G. Temperature Dependence of Photosynthesis in Agropyron smithii Rydb. : I. FACTORS AFFECTING NET CO(2) UPTAKE IN INTACT LEAVES AND CONTRIBUTION FROM RIBULOSE-1,5-BISPHOSPHATE CARBOXYLASE MEASURED IN VIVO AND IN VITRO. Plant Physiol. 1982 Apr;69(4):921–928. doi: 10.1104/pp.69.4.921. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Morgan J. A., Brown R. H. Photosynthesis in Grass Species Differing in Carbon Dioxide Fixation Pathways: II. A Search for Species with Intermediate Gas Exchange and Anatomical Characteristics. Plant Physiol. 1979 Aug;64(2):257–262. doi: 10.1104/pp.64.2.257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Rathnam C. K., Chollet R. Photosynthetic carbon metabolism in Panicum milioides, a C3-C4 intermediate species: evidence for a limited C4 dicarboxylic acid pathway of photosynthesis. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1979 Dec 6;548(3):500–519. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(79)90061-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rumpho M. E., Ku M. S., Cheng S. H., Edwards G. E. Photosynthetic Characteristics of C(3)-C(4) Intermediate Flaveria Species : III. Reduction of Photorespiration by a Limited C(4) Pathway of Photosynthesis in Flaveria ramosissima. Plant Physiol. 1984 Aug;75(4):993–996. doi: 10.1104/pp.75.4.993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Winter K., Usuda H., Tsuzuki M., Schmitt M., Edwards G. E., Thomas R. J., Evert R. F. Influence of Nitrate and Ammonia on Photosynthetic Characteristics and Leaf Anatomy of Moricandia arvensis. Plant Physiol. 1982 Aug;70(2):616–625. doi: 10.1104/pp.70.2.616. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES