The effect of gradually-developing water-stress has been studied in Lupinus albus L., Helianthus annuus L., Vitis vinifera cv. Rosaki and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. Water was withheld and diurnal rhythms were investigated 4-8 d later, when the predawn water deficit was more negative than in watered plants, and the stomata closed almost completely early during the photoperiod. The contribution of 'stomatal' and 'non-stomatal' components to the decrease of photosynthetic rate was investigated by (1) comparing the changes of the rate of photosynthesis in air with the changes of stomatal conductance and (2) measuring photosynthetic capacity in saturating irradiance and 15% CO2. Three species (lupin, eucalyptus and sunflower) showed larger changes of stomatal conductance than photosynthesis in air, and showed little or no decrease of photosynthetic capacity in saturating CO2. Photosynthesis in air also recovered fully overnight after watering the plants in the evening. In grapevines, stomatal conductance and photosynthesis in air changed in parallel, there was a marked decrease of photosynthetic capacity, and photosynthesis and stomatal conductance did not recover overnight after watering water-stressed plants. Relative water content remained above 90% in grapevine. We conclude that non-stomatai components do not play a significant role in lupins, sunflower or eucalyptus, but could in grapevine. The effect of water-stress on partitioning of photosynthate was investigated by measuring the amounts of sucrose and starch in leaves during a diurnal rhythm, and by measuring the partitioning of "C-carbon dioxide between sucrose and starch. In all four species, starch was depleted in water-stressed leaves but sucrose was maintained at amounts similar to, or higher than, those in watered plants. Partitioning into sucrose was increased in lupins and eucalyptus, and remained unchanged in grapevine and sunflower. It is concluded that water-stressed leaves in all four species maintain high levels of soluble sugars in their Correspotidetiee: R. C. Leegood, Robert Hitt histitute. Departinent ofAtiimal and Platit .Scietiees, University of Sheffield, Sheffield SW 2TN, UK.leaves, despite having lower rates of field photosynthesis, decreased rates of export, and low amounts of starch in their leaves. in the intracellular spaces in the leaf; D, water vapour pressure deficit between the air and the leaf; DW, dry weight; FW, fresh weight; gs, stomatal conductance; RWC, relative water content; Tr, transpiration rate; ip, water potential.

The photorespiratory pathway is described, together with the mutants which have been isolated for this metabolic pathway. Some of the key regulatory properties of the photorespiratory cycle are reviewed together with the regulatory interactions that might occur between photorespiration and other processes, such as the Benson-Calvin cycle and anaplerotic carbon flow into organic acids. These are discussed in relation to recent studies of the regulation and control of photorespiratory carbon and nitrogen metabolism in photorespiratory mutants, including possible mechanisms for the control of photosynthetic and photorespiratory carbon and nitrogen metabolism and of the activation state of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase in heterozygous barley mutants with reduced activities of glutamine synthetase or glutamate synthase.

The aim of this work was to examine the effect of temperature in the range 5 to 30 ° C upon the regulation of photosynthetic carbon assimilation in leaves of the C4 plant maize (Zea mays L.) and the C3 plant barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Measurements of the CO2-assimilation rate in relation to the temperature were made at high (735 μbar) and low (143 μbar) intercellular CO2 pressure in barley and in air in maize. The results show that, as the temperature was decreased, (i) in barley, pools of phosphorylated metabolites, particularly hexose-phosphate, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, increased in high and low CO2; (ii) in maize, pools of glycerate 3-phosphate, triose-phosphate, pyruvate and phosphoenolpyruvate decreased, reflecting their role in, and dependence on, intercellular transport processes, while pools of hexose-phosphate, ribulose 1,5-bis phosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate remained approximately constant; (iii) the redox state of the primary electron acceptor of photosystem II (QA) increased slightly in barley, but rose abruptly below 12° C in maize. Non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence increased slightly in barley and increased to high values below 20 ° C in maize. The data from barley are consistent with the development of a limitation by phosphate status at low temperatures in high CO2, and indicate an increasing regulatory importance for regeneration of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate within the Calvin cycle at low temperatures in low CO2. The data from maize do not show that any steps of the C4 cycle are particularly cold-sensitive, but do indicate that a restriction in electron transport occurs at low temperature. In both plants the data indicate that regulation of product synthesis results in the maintenance of pools of Calvin-cycle intermediates at low temperatures.

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The relationship between the gas-exchange characteristics of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) leaves and the activation state of sucrose-phosphate synthase was examined at different intercellular partial pressures of CO2 at two different photon flux densities. There was a strong positive correlation between the activation state of sucrose-phosphate synthase and the assimilation rate. The relationship was the same at both photon flux densities, indicating that the activation state of the enzyme is determined by a product of carbon assimilation, rather than directly by light.