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Further Evidence for Reduced Role of Photorespiration in Low Compensation Point Species

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Abstract

MOST plant species cannot show a net photosynthetic uptake of CO2 when the CO2 concentration of the surrounding atmosphere falls below about 50 p.p.m., because at this point photosynthetic carbon fixation is reduced by lack of substrate to the rate at which CO2 is being released from the plant by photorespiration. The concentration of CO2 at which this occurs is called the CO2 compensation point. A few species, including such important crop plants as Zea mays, have unusually low CO2 compensation points, typically near zero. Such plants may not photorespire, or alternatively may be capable of refixing all the photorespired CO2 by an unusually efficient photosynthetic mechanism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntingdon Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 06504

    A. GOLDSWORTHY & P. R. DAY

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  1. A. GOLDSWORTHY
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  2. P. R. DAY
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GOLDSWORTHY, A., DAY, P. Further Evidence for Reduced Role of Photorespiration in Low Compensation Point Species. Nature 228, 687–688 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/228687a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/228687a0

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