Biochemical and mesophyll diffusional limits to photosynthesis are determined by prey and root nutrient uptake in the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes × ventrata

Abstract

The study resolved a 35-year-old hypothesis that carnivorous plants increase photosynthetic assimilation via the investment of prey-derived nitrogen in the photosynthetic apparatus. The equilibrium between biochemical and mesophyll limitations of photosynthesis is strongly affected by the nutrient treatment.