Fast dehydration reduces bundle sheath conductance in C₄ maize and sorghum.

ABSTRACT: In the face of anthropogenic warming, drought poses an escalating threat to food production. C₄ plants offer promise in addressing this threat. C₄ leaves operate a biochemical CO₂ concentrating mechanism that exchanges metabolites between two partially isolated compartments (mesophyll and bundle sheath), which confers high-productivity potential in hot climates boosting water use efficiency. However, when C₄ leaves experience dehydration, photosynthesis plummets. This paper explores the physiological mechanisms behind this decline. In a fast dehydration experiment, we measured the fluxes and isotopic composition of water and CO₂ in the gas exchanged by leaves, and we interpreted results using a novel biochemical model and analysis of e

SUBMITTER: Bellasio C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11579431 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature