Bundle sheath chloroplast volume can house sufficient Rubisco to avoid limiting C4 photosynthesis during chilling.

ABSTRACT: C4 leaves confine Rubisco to bundle sheath cells. Thus, the size of bundle sheath compartments and the total volume of chloroplasts within them limit the space available for Rubisco. Rubisco activity limits photosynthesis at low temperatures. C3 plants counter this limitation by increasing leaf Rubisco content, yet few C4 species do the same. Because C3 plants usually outperform C4 plants in chilling environments, it has been suggested that there is insufficient chloroplast volume available in the bundle sheath of C4 leaves to allow such an increase in Rubisco at low temperatures. We investigated this potential limitation by measuring bundle sheath and mesophyll compartment volumes and chloroplast contents, as well as leaf thickness and inter-veinal distance, in three C4 Andropogoneae gras

SUBMITTER: Pignon CP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6305190 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature