Abstract
It has been known for a long time that the isotope fractionation of carbon formed by photosynthesizing plants varies radically depending on the pattern of photosynthesis in which the species is engaging (see O’Leary 1988, Farquhar et al. 1989, and chapter by Dawson and Brooks in this volume). The principal reason for this is that carbon fixed by the photosynthetic CO2 assimilating enzymes RUBP carboxylase [Rubisco] (C3 plants) and PEP carboxylase (C4 and CAM plants) show different isotope fractionation (δ13C) values, since the former enzyme discriminates 27 to 30‰, the latter only 0 to 2‰. As a result δ13C values for C3 plants utilizing Rubisco range from −20 to −35‰ while C4 species utilizing PEP carboxylase exhibit an equivalent range of from −7 to −17‰ (see Deines 1980, Ehleringer 1989). Those ‘obligate’ CAM plants which operate by fixing CO2 only at night using PEP carboxylase have δ13C values similar to C4 plants, whereas ‘facultative’ C3:CAM species which are able to shift back and forth between C3 and CAM-type photosynthesis depending on conditions, exhibit δ13C values resembling those of C3 plants when under well watered conditions but values close to C4 plants when in dry or saline environments (see Teeri 1982, Ehleringer 1989). Table 1 summarizes some of the principal differences between C3, C4 and CAM plants in respect of water use, carbon isotope discrimination and other physiological features.
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Pate, J.S. (2001). Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Plant Water-Use Efficiency. In: Unkovich, M., Pate, J., McNeill, A., Gibbs, D.J. (eds) Stable Isotope Techniques in the Study of Biological Processes and Functioning of Ecosystems. Current Plant Science and Biotechnology in Agriculture, vol 40. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9841-5_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9841-5_2
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