Photosynthetic carbon metabolism of a marine grass.

The delta(13)C value of a tropical marine grass Thalassia testudinum is -9.04 per thousand. This value is similar to the delta(13)C value of terrestrial tropical grasses. The delta(13)C values of the organic acid fraction, the amino acid fraction, the sugar fraction, malic acid, and glucose are: -11.2 per thousand, -13.1 per thousand, -10.1 per thousand, -11.1 per thousand, and -11.5 per thousand, respectively. The delta(13)C values of malic acid and glucose of Thalassia are similar to the delta(13)C values of these intermediates in sorghum leaves and attest to the presence of the photosynthetic C(4)-dicarboxylic acid pathway in this marine grass. The inorganic HCO(3) (-) for the growth of the grass fluctuates between -6.7 to -2.7 per thousand during the day. If CO(2) fixation in Thalassia is catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (which would result in a -3 per thousand fractionation between HCO(3) (-) and malic acid), the predicted delta(13)C value for Thalassia would be -9.7 to -5.7 per thousand. This range is close to the observed range of -12.6 to -7.8 per thousand for Thalassia and agree with the operation of the C(4)-dicarboxylic acid pathway in this plant. The early products of the fixation of HCO(3) (-) in the leaf sections are malic acid and aspartic acid which are similar to the early products of CO(2) fixation in C(4) terrestrial plants.Electron microscopy of the leaves of Thalassia reveal thick walled epidermal cells exceedingly rich in mitochondria and C(3)-type chloroplasts. The mesophyll cells have many different shapes and surround air lacunae which contain O(2) and CO(2). The mesophyll cells are highly vacuolated and the parietal cytoplasm contains an occasional chloroplast. This chloroplast contains grana but the lamellar system is not as developed as the system in epidermal chloroplasts. Extensive phloem tissue is present but the xylem elements are reduced in this aquatic grass. The vascular tissue is not surrounded by bundle sheath cells.This work does not establish the exact relation between structure and function in Thalassia, but it does show the C(4)-type photosynthetic carbon metabolism in this grass involves epidermal and mesophyll cells and internally produced O(2) and CO(2) in the air lacunae.