Borghi, Gian Luca
[Author]
;
Stitt, Mark
[Degree supervisor];
Bräutigam, Andrea
[Degree supervisor];
Sharkey, Thomas
[Degree supervisor]Universität Potsdam
Evolution and diversity of photosynthetic metabolism in C3, C3-C4 intermediate and C4 plants
University thesis:
Dissertation, Universität Potsdam, 2021 (kumulative Dissertation)
Footnote:
kumulative Dissertation
Description:
In C3 plants, CO2 diffuses into the leaf and is assimilated by the Calvin-Benson cycle in the mesophyll cells. It leaves Rubisco open to its side reaction with O2, resulting in a wasteful cycle known as photorespiration. A sharp fall in atmospheric CO2 levels about 30 million years ago have further increased the side reaction with O2. The pressure to reduce photorespiration led, in over 60 plant genera, to the evolution of a CO2-concentrating mechanism called C4 photosynthesis; in this mode, CO2 is initially incorporated into 4-carbon organic acids, which diffuse to the bundle sheath and are decarboxylated to provide CO2 to Rubisco. Some genera, like Flaveria, contain several species that represent different steps in this complex evolutionary process. However, the majority of terrestrial plant species did not evolve a CO2-concentrating mechanism and perform C3 photosynthesis. This thesis compares photosynthetic metabolism in several species with C3, C4 and intermediate modes of photosynthesis. Metabolite profiling and stable isotope ...