A Comparison of Dark Respiration between C₃ and C₄ Plants

Abstract

Lower respiratory costs were hypothesized as providing an additional benefit in C(4) plants compared to C(3) plants due to less investment in proteins in C(4) leaves. Therefore, photosynthesis and dark respiration of mature leaves were compared between a number of C(4) and C(3) species. Although photosynthetic rates were generally greater in C(4) when compared to C(3) species, no differences were found in dark respiration rates of individual leaves at either the beginning or after 16 h of the dark period. The effects of nitrogen on photosynthesis and respiration of individual leaves and whole plants were also investigated in two species that occupy similar habitats, Amaranthus retroflexus (C(4)) and Chenopodium album (C(3)). For mature leaves of both species, there was no relationship between leaf nitrogen and leaf respiration, with leaves of both species exhibiting a similar rate of decline after 16 h of darkness. In contrast, leaf photosynthesis increased with increasing leaf nitrogen in both species, with the C(4) species displaying a greater photosynthetic response to leaf nitrogen. For whole plants of both species grown at different nitrogen levels, there was a clear linear relationship between net CO(2) uptake and CO(2) efflux in the dark. The dependence of nightly CO(2) efflux on CO(2) uptake was similar for both species, although the response of CO(2) uptake to leaf nitrogen was much steeper in the C(4) species, Amaranthus retroflexus. Rates of growth and maintenance respiration by whole plants of both species were similar, with both species displaying higher rates at higher leaf nitrogen. There were no significant differences in leaf or whole plant maintenance respiration between species at any temperature between 18 and 42 degrees C. The data suggest no obvious differences in respiratory costs in C(4) and C(3) plants.