Reduced plant water status under sub-ambient pCO2 limits plant productivity in the wild progenitors of C3 and C4 cereals.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

The reduction of plant productivity by low atmospheric CO₂ partial pressure (pCO₂) during the last glacial period is proposed as a limiting factor for the establishment of agriculture. Supporting this hypothesis, previous work has shown that glacial pCO₂ limits biomass in the wild progenitors of C₃ and C₄ founder crops, in part due to the direct effects of glacial pCO₂ on photosynthesis. Here, we investigate the indirect role of pCO₂ mediated via water status, hypothesizing that faster soil water depletion at glacial (18 Pa) compared to post-glacial (27 Pa) pCO₂, due to greater stomatal conductance, feeds back to limit photosynthesis during drying cycles.

Methods

We gr

SUBMITTER: Cunniff J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5091726 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature