[Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on mung bean leaf photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence...

By using free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) system, a pot experiment under field condition was conducted to study the effects of elevated CO2 concentration (550 +/- 60 micromol mol(-1)) on the leaf photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of mung bean. Comparing with the control (CO2 concentration averagely 389 +/- 40 micromol mol(-1)), elevated CO2 concentration increased the leaf intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) and net photosynthesis rate (P(n)) at flowering and pod growth stage by 9.8% and 11.7%, decreased the stomatic conductance (G(s)) and transpiration rate (T(r)) by 32.0% and 24.6%, respectively, and increased the water use efficiency (WUE) by 83.5%. Elevated CO2 concentration had lesser effects on the minimal fluorescence (F0), maximal fluorescence (F(m)), variable fluorescence (F(v)), ratio of variable fluorescence to minimal fluorescence (F(v)/F0), and ratio of variable fluorescence to maximal fluorescence (F(v)/F(m)) at bud stage, but increased the F0 at pod filling stage by 19.1% and decreased the Fm, F(v), F(v)/F0, and F(v)/F(m) by 9.0%, 14.3%, 25.8% , and 6.2%, respectively. These results suggested that elevated CO2 concentration could damage the structure of leaf photosystem II and consequently decrease the leaf photosynthetic capacity in the late growth phase of mung bean.