Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T22:46:16.684Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

C4 Photosynthesis in Smooth Pigweed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

David T. Patterson
David T. Patterson*
Affiliation:
Dep. Bot. Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27706
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The response of net photosynthetic rate to temperature and light, the rate of photorespiration, the compensation concentration for CO2, and the pathway of CO2 fixation in smooth pigweed (Amaranthus hybridus L.) were investigated using infrared gas analysis and 14CO2. Maximum net photosynthetic rates of whole shoots were 45 mg CO2 dm-2 hr-1 at 30 C and 7.8 klux. Intact whole shoots were not light saturated at 10 klux. The optimum temperature for net photosynthesis was between 30 C and 40 C. Photorespiration was low and the CO2 compensation concentration was 7 ppm. After a 5-sec exposure to 14CO2 in the light, label was detected in oxaloacetate, malate, and aspartate. It was concluded that smooth pigweed has the gross photosynthetic characteristics and CO2 fixation pathway typical of C4 or Hatch-Slack plants.

Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 1976 , pp. 127 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © 1976 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Aronoff, S. 1956. Techniques of radiobiochemistry. Iowa State College Press, Ames, Iowa. 228 pp.Google Scholar
2. Black, C.C., Chen, T.M., and Brown, R.H. 1969. Biochemical basis for plant competition. Weed Sci. 17:338–344.Google Scholar
3. El-Sharkawy, M.A., Loomis, R.S., and Williams, W.A. 1968. Photosynthesis and respiratory exchanges of carbon dioxide by leaves of the grain amaranth. J. Appl. Ecol. 5:243–251.Google Scholar
4. Gutierrez, M., Gracen, V.E., and Edwards, G.E. 1974. Biochemical and cytological relationships in C4 plants. Planta 119:279–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Hatch, M.D. and Slack, C.R. 1966. Photosynthesis by sugarcane leaves. A new carboxylation reaction and the pathway of sugar formation. Biochem. J. 101:103–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Hatch, M.D., Slack, C.R., and Johnson, H.S. 1967. Further studies on a new pathway of photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation in sugarcane and its occurrence in other plant species. Biochem. J. 102:417–422.Google Scholar
7. Johnson, H.S. and Hatch, M.D. 1968. Distribution of the C4 dicarboxylic acid pathway of photosynthesis and its occurrence in dicotyledonous plants. Phytochem. 7:374–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Kortshak, H.P., Hartt, C.E., and Burr, G.O. 1965. Carbon dioxide fixation in sugarcane leaves. Plant Physiol. 40:209–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Moolani, M.K., Knake, E.L., and Slife, F.W. 1964. Competition of smooth pigweed with corn and soybeans. Weeds 12:126–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Muenscher, W.C. 1935. Weeds. MacMillan Co., New York, N.Y. 577 pp.Google Scholar
11. Purohit, A.N. and Tregunna, E.B. 1974. Carbon dioxide compensation and its association with the photoperiodic response of plants. Can. J. Bot. 52:1146–1148.Google Scholar
12. Smith, I. 1960. Chromatographic and electrophoretic techniques. Vol. I. Chromatography. Wm. Heineman Ltd. London. 617 pp.Google Scholar
13. Tregunna, E.B. and Downton, J. 1967. Carbon dioxide compensation in members of the Amaranthaceae and some related families. Can. J. Bot. 45:2385–2387.Google Scholar
14. Tregunna, E.B., Smith, B.N., Berry, J.A., and Downton, W.J.S. 1970. Some methods for studying the photosynthetic taxonomy of the angiosperms. Can. J. Bot. 48:1209–1214.Google Scholar
15. Welkie, G.W. and Caldwell, M. 1970. Leaf anatomy of species in some dicotyledon families as related to the C3 and C4 pathways of carbon fixation. Can. J. Bot. 48:2135–2146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Zelitch, I. 1971. Photosynthesis, photorespiration, and plant productivity. Academic Press, New York, N.Y. 347 pp.Google Scholar