skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Inorganic carbon uptake during photosynthesis. II. Uptake by isolated Asparagus mesophyll cells during isotopic disequilibrium. [Asparagus sprengeri]

Journal Article · · Plant Physiol.; (United States)
OSTI ID:7024324

The species of inorganic carbon (CO/sub 2/ or HCO/sub 3//sup -/) taken up as a source of substrate for photosynthetic fixation by isolated Asparagus sprengeri mesophyll cells is investigated. Discrimination between CO/sub 2/ or HCO/sub 3//sup -/ transport, during steady state photosynthesis, is achieved by monitoring the changes (by /sup 14/C fixation) which occur in the specific activity of the intracellular pool of inorganic carbon when the inorganic carbon present in the suspending medium is in a state of isotopic disequilibrium. Quantitative comparisons between theoretical (CO/sub 2/ or HCO/sub 3//sup -/ transport) and experimental time-courses of /sup 14/C incorporation, over the pH range of 5.2 to 7.5, indicate that the specific activity of extracellular CO/sub 2/, rather than HCO/sub 3//sup -/, is the appropriate predictor of the intracellular specific activity. It is concluded, therefore, that CO/sub 2/ is the major source of exogenous inorganic carbon taken up by Asparagus cells. However, at high pH (8.5), a component of net DIC uptake may be attributable to HCO/sub 3//sup -/ transport, as the incorporation of /sup 14/C during isotopic disequilibrium exceeds the maximum possible incorporation predicted on the basis of CO/sub 2/ uptake alone. The contribution of HCO/sub 3//sup -/ to net inorganic carbon uptake (pH 8.5) is variable, ranging from 5 to 16%, but is independent of the extracellular HCO/sub 3//sup -/ concentration. The evidence for direct HCO/sub 3//sup -/ transport is subject to alternative explanations and must, therefore, be regarded as equivocal. Nonlinear regression analysis of the rate of /sup 14/C incorporation as a function of time indicates the presence of a small extracellular resistance to the diffusion of CO/sub 2/, which is partially alleviated by a high extracellular concentration of HCO/sub 3//sup -/.

Research Organization:
York Univ., Downsview, Ontario
OSTI ID:
7024324
Journal Information:
Plant Physiol.; (United States), Vol. 80:4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English