Is photosynthetic acclimation to free-air CO<sub>2</sub> enrichment (FACE) related to a strong competition for the assimilatory power between carbon assimilation and nitrogen assimilation in rice leaf?

Abstract

Net photosynthetic rate (P N) of leaves grown under free-air CO2 enriched condition (FACE, about 200 µmol mol-1 above ambient air) was significantly lower than P N of leaves grown at ambient CO2 concentration (AC) when measured at CO2 concentration of 580 µmol mol-1. This difference was found in rice plants grown at normal nitrogen supply (25 g m-2; NN-plants) but not in plants grown at low nitrogen supply (15 g m-2; LN-plants). Namely, photosynthetic acclimation to FACE was observed in NN-plants but not in LN-plants. Different from the above results measured in a period of continuous sunny days, such photosynthetic acclimation occurred in NN-plants, however, it was also observed in LN-plants when P N was measured before noon of the first sunny day after rain. Hence strong competition for the assimilatory power between nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) assimilations induced by an excessive N supply may lead to the photosynthetic acclimation to FACE in NN-plants. The hypothesis is supported by the following facts: FACE induced significant decrease in both apparent photosynthetic quantum yield (Φc) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) content in NN-plants but not in LN-plants.