Two photosynthetic mechanisms mediating the low photorespiratory state in submersed aquatic angiosperms.

The submersed angiosperms Myriophyllum spicatum L. and Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royal exhibited different photosynthetic pulse-chase labeling patterns. In Hydrilla, over 50% of the (14)C was initially in malate and aspartate, but the fate of the malate depended upon the photorespiratory state of the plant. In low photorespiration Hydrilla, malate label decreased rapidly during an unlabeled chase, whereas labeling of sucrose and starch increased. In contrast, for high photorespiration Hydrilla, malate labeling continued to increase during a 2-hour chase. Thus, malate formation occurs in both photorespiratory states, but reduced photorespiration results when this malate is utilized in the light. Unlike Hydrilla, in low photorespiration Myriophyllum, (14)C incorporation was via the Calvin cycle, and less than 10% was in C(4) acids.Ethoxyzolamide, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor and a repressor of the low photorespiratory state, increased the label in glycolate, glycine, and serine of Myriophyllum. Isonicotinic acid hydrazide increased glycine labeling of low photorespiration Myriophyllum from 14 to 25%, and from 12 to 48% with high photorespiration plants. Similar trends were observed with Hydrilla. Increasing O(2) increased the per cent [(14)C]glycine and the O(2) inhibition of photosynthesis in Myriophyllum. In low photorespiration Myriophyllum, glycine labeling and O(2) inhibition of photosynthesis were independent of the CO(2) level, but in high photorespiration plants the O(2) inhibition was competitively decreased by CO(2). Thus, in low but not high photorespiration plants, glycine labeling and O(2) inhibition appeared to be uncoupled from the external [O(2)]/[CO(2)] ratio.These data indicate that the low photorespiratory states of Hydrilla and Myriophyllum are mediated by different mechanisms, the former being C(4)-like, while the latter resembles that of low CO(2)-grown algae. Both may require carbonic anhydrase to enhance the use of inorganic carbon for reducing photorespiration.