Partitioning of the Leaf CO2 Exchange into Components Using CO2 Exchange and Fluorescence Measurements

Photorespiration was calculated from chlorophyll fluorescence and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) kinetics and compared with CO2 evolution rate in the light, measured by three gas-exchange methods in mature sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) leaves. The gas-exchange methods were (a) postillumination CO2 burst at unchanged CO2 concentration, (b) postillumination CO2 burst with simultaneous transfer into CO2-free air, and (c) extrapolation of the CO2 uptake to zero CO2 concentration at Rubisco active sites. The steady-state CO2 compensation point was proportional to O2 concentration, revealing the Rubisco specificity coefficient (Ksp) of 86. Electron transport rate (ETR) was calculated from fluorescence, and photorespiration rate was calculated from ETR using CO2 and O2 concentrations, Ksp, and diffusion resistances. The values of the best-fit mesophyll diffusion resistance for CO2 ranged between 0.3 and 0.8 s cm-1. Comparison of the gas-exchange and fluorescence data showed that only ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylation and photorespiratory CO2 evolution were present at limiting CO2 concentrations. Carboxylation of a substrate other than RuBP, in addition to RuBP carboxylation, was detected at high CO2 concentrations. A simultaneous decarboxylation process not related to RuBP oxygenation was also detected at high CO2 concentrations in the light. We propose that these processes reflect carboxylation of phosphoenolpyruvate, formed from phosphoglyceric acid and the subsequent decarboxylation of malate.