Abstract
A simple system for free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) was recently developed and it is here briefly described. Such a MiniFACE system allowed the elevation of CO2 concentration of small field plots avoiding the occurrence of large spatial and temporal fluctuations. A CO2 enrichment field experiment was conducted in Italy in the season 1993–1994 with wheat (cv. Super-dwarf Mercia). A randomized experimental design was used with the treatment combination CO2 × soil N, replicated twice. Gas exchange measurements showed that photosynthetic capacity was significantly decreased in plants exposed to elevated CO2 and grown under nitrogen deficiency. Photosynthetic acclimation was, in this case, due to the occurrence of reduced rates of rubP saturated and rubP regeneration limited photosynthesis. Gas exchange measurements did not instead reveal any significant effect of elevated CO2 on the photosynthetic capacity of leaves of plants well fertilized with nitrogen, in spite of a transitory negative effect on rubP regeneration limited photosynthesis that was detected to occur in the central part of a day with high irradiance. It is concluded that the levels of nitrogen fertilization will play a substantial role in modulating CO2 fertilization effects on growth and yields of wheat crops under the scenario of future climate change.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- A:Ci :
-
assimilation (A)versus intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci)
- Ca:
-
CO2 concentration surrounding the leaf
- FACE:
-
Free Air CO2 Enrichment
- IRGA:
-
infrared gas analyser
- Jmax:
-
light saturated rate of electron transport
- Pi :
-
inorganic phosphorus
- rubP:
-
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate
- Vcmax:
-
maximum rubP rate of carboxylation
References
Arp WJ (1991) Effects of source-sink relations on photosynthetic acclimation to elevated CO2. Plant Cell Environ 14: 869–875
Delgado E, Mitchell RAC, Parry MAJ, Driscoll SP, Mitchell VJ and Lawlor DW (1994) Interactive effects of CO2 concentration, temperature and nitrogen supply on the photosynthesis and composition of winter wheat leaves. Plant Cell Environ 17: 1205–1213
Farquhar GD and vonCaemmerer S (1982) Modelling of photosynthetic response to environmental conditions. In: Lange OL, Nobel PS, Osmond CB and Ziegler H (eds) Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, New Series Vol 12B; Physiological Plant Ecology II, pp 549–587. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Farquhar GD, vonCaemmerer S and Berry JA (1980) A biochemical model of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in leaves of C3 species. Planta 149: 78–90
Evans JR 1989. Photosynthesis and nitrogen relationship in leaves of C3 plants. Oecol 78: 9–19
Fichtner K, Quick WP, Schulze ED, Mooney HA, Rodermel SR, Bogorad L and Stitt M (1993) Decreased Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase in transgenic tobacco transformed with antisense rbcS. V Relationship between photosynthetic rate, storage strategy, biomass allocation and vegetative plant growth at three different nitrogen supplies. Planta 190: 1–9
Garcia RL, Long SP, Wall GW, Osborne CP, Kimball BA, Nie GY, Pinter Jr PS and La Morte RL (1995) Photosynthesis and conductance of spring wheat leaves: Response to free air atmospheric CO2 enrichment. Plant Physiol (submitted)
Gifford RM (1992) Interactions of carbon dioxide with growth limiting environmental factors in vegetation productivity: Implications for the global carbon cycle. In: Desjardins RL, Gifford RM, Nilson T and Greenwood EAN (eds) Advances in Bioclimatology, Vol 1, pp 26–58. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Harley PC, Thomas RB, Reynolds JF and Strain BR (1992) Modelling photosynthesis of cotton grown in elevated CO2. Plant Cell Environ 15: 271–232
Hendrey GR, Kimball BA (1994) The FACE program. Agric For Meteorol 69: 1–14
Idso KE and Idso SB (1994) Plant response to atmospheric CO2 enrichment in the face of environmental constraints: A review of the past 10 years research. Agric For Meteorol 69: 513–203
Jordan DB, Ogren WL (1984) The CO2/O2, specificity of ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. Dependence on ribulose bisphosphate concentration, pH and temperature. Planta 161: 308–313
Kimball BA (1983) Carbon dioxide and agricultural yield: An assemblage and analysis of 430 prior observations. Agron J 75: 779–788
Körner C, Miglietta F 1994 Long-term effects of naturally elevated CO2 on mediterranean grassland and forest trees. Oecologia 99: 343–351
Lawlor DW and Mitchell RAC (1992) The effects of increasing CO2 on crop photosynthesis and productivity: A review of field studies. Plant Cell Environ 14: 807–818
Lewin KF, Hendrey GR, Kolber Z (1932) Brookhaven National Laboratory Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment facility. Critical Rev Plant Sci 11: 135–141
Long SP (1991) Modifications of the response of photosynthetic productivity to rising temperature by atmospheric CO2 concentrations: Has its importance been underestimated? Plant Cell Environ 14: 729–739
Long SP and Drake BG (1992) Photosynthetic CO2 assimilation and rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. In: Baker NR and Thomas H (eds) Crop Photosynthesis: Spatial and Temporal Determinants, pp 69–103. Elsevier Science Publishers, New York
Long SP, Baker NR and Raines CA (1993) Analysing the responses of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation to long-term elevation of atmospheric CO2 concentration. Vegetatio 103/104: 33–45
Mitchell RAC, Mitchell VJ, Driscoll SP, Franklin J and Lawlor DW (1993) Effects of increased CO2 concentration and temperature on growth and yield of winter wheat at two levels of nitrogen application. Plant Cell Environ 16: 521–530
Miglietta F, Raschi A, Bettarini I, Resti R and Selvi F (1993) Carbon dioxide springs in Italy: A resource for examining long-term response of vegetation to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Plant Cell Environ 16: 873–878
Mc Kee IF, Woodward FI (1994) The effect of growth at elevated CO2 concentrations on photosynthesis in wheat. Plant Cell Environ 17: 853–859
Oostenvan JJ, Wilkins D and Besford RT (1994) Regulation of the expression of photosynthetic nuclear genes by CO2 mimicked by regulation by carbohydrates: A mechanism for the acclimation of photosynthesis to high CO2? Plant Cell Environ 17: 913–923
Paul MJ and Stitt M (1993) Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus deficiencies on levels of carbohydrates, respiratory enzymes and metabolites in seedlings of tobacco and their response to exogenous sucrose. Plant Cell Environ 16: 1047–1057
Petterson R, McDonald AJS (1994) Effects of nitrogen supply on the acclimation of photosynthesis to elevated CO2. Photosynth Res 39: 389–400
Pinter PJ, Kimball BA, LaMorte RL, Wall GW, Garcia RL and Hunsaker DJ (1993) Effects of Free Air CO2 Enrichment on spring wheat. Annual Research Report US Water Conservation Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Phoenix, AZ
Sage RF (1994) Acclimation of photpsynthesis to increasing atmospheric CO2: The gas exchange perspective. Photosynth Res 39: 351–368
Sage RF, Sharkey TD and Seeman Jl2 (1989) Acclimation of photosynthesis to elevated CO2 in five C3 species. Plant Physiol 89: 590–596
Schnyder H (1993) The role of carbohydarte storage and redistribution in the source-sink relations of wheat and barley during grain filling — a review. New Phytol 123: 233–245
Sharkey TD (1985) O2-insensitive photosynthesis in C3 plants. Its occurrence and a possible explanation. Plant Physiol 78: 71–75
Sheen J (1994) Feedback control of gene expression. Photosynth Res 39: 427–438
Spiertz JHJ (1977) The influence of temperature and light intensity on grain growth in relation to the carbohydrate and nitrogen economy of the wheat plant. Neth J Agric Sci 25: 182–97
Stitt M (1991) Rising CO2 levels and their potential significance for carbon flow in photosynthetic cells. Plant Cell Environ 16: 341–349
Stitt M and Schulze D (1994) Does Rubisco control the rate of photosynthesis and plant growth? An exercise in molecular ecophysiology. Plant Cell Environ 17: 465–487
Thomas RB, Lewis JD and Strain BR (1994) Effects of leaf nutrient status on photosynthetic capacity in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) seedlings grown in elevated atmospheric CO2. Tree Physiol 14: 947–960
Triboi E and Ollier JL (1991) Evolution et rôle des reserves glucidiques et azoteés des tiges chez 21 genotypes de ble. Agronomie 11: 239–247
Vos J (1981) Effects of temperature and nitrogen supply on post-floral growth of wheat; measurements and simulations. Agricultural Research Reports. Pudoc, Wageningen
Webber AN, Nie GY and Long SP (1994) Acclimation of photosynthetic proteins to rising atmospheric CO2. Photosynth Res 39: 413–426
Wittewer SH (1984) Carbon dioxide levels in the biosphere: Effects on plant productivity. CRC Critical Rev Plant Sci 2: 171–198
Woodrow IE (1994) Optimal acclimation of the C3 photosynthetic system under enhanced CO2. Photosynth Res 39: 401–412
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miglietta, F., Giuntoli, A. & Bindi, M. The effect of free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) and soil nitrogen availability on the photosynthetic capacity of wheat. Photosynth Res 47, 281–290 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02184288
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02184288