Effect of varying environments on photosynthetic parameters of C3, C3-C4 and C4 species of Panicum.

CO2 exchange characteristics and the activity of the carboxylating enzymes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEP-C, E.C. 4.1.1.31) and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBP-C, E.C. 4.1.1.39) during one year in the greenhouse and at two levels of light and temperature in growth chambers were determined in the C3-C4 intermediate species P. milioides Nees ex. Trin. These results were compared with those of P. bisulcatum Thumb. (C3) and P. maximum Jacq. (C4). Under all tested conditions, and even when the influence of leaf surface temperature on photosynthetic rates and CO2 compensation points were measured, the biochemical and physiological behaviour of the C3-C4 intermediate was more similar to that of the C3 plant than the C4 species. The C4 plant P. maximum, however, responded positively, mainly in terms of PEP-C activity and photosynthetic rate, to the regime of high light and temperature. The results presented indicate that in the C3-C4 Panicum grown in high light and temperature no direct relationships between a low CO2 compesation point and superior growth are evident. It has still to be clarified why in nature a photosynthetic-photorespiratory pathway leading to an intermediate CO2 compensation value has evolved in P. milioides.