Relationships of leaf net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and mesophyll conductance to primary metabolism: a multi-species meta-analysis approach

GAGO J; DALOSO DM; FIGUEROA CM; FLEXAS J; FERNIE AR; NIKOLOSKI Z

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY.

AMER SOC PLANT BIOLOGISTS

Lugar: Rockville; Año: 2016 vol. 171 p. 265 - 279

0032-0889

Plantmetabolism drives plant development and plant-environment responses, and dataread-outs from this cellular level could provide insights in the underlyingmolecular processes. Existing studies have already related key in vivo leafgas-exchange parameters with structural traits and nutrient components acrossmultiple species. However, insights in the relationships of leaf gas-exchangewith leaf primary metabolism are still limited. We have investigated theserelationships through a multi-species meta-analysis approach based on data setsfrom 17 published studies describing net photosynthesis (A), stomatal (gs) andmesophyll (gm) conductances, alongside the 53 data profiles from primarymetabolism of 14 species grown in different experiments. Modelling resultshighlighted the conserved patterns between the different species. Considerationof species-specific effects increased the explanatory power of the models forsome metabolites, including glucose-6-phosphate, fructose-6-phosphate, malate,fumarate, xylose, and ribose. Significant relationships of A with sugars andphosphorylated intermediates were observed. While gs was related to sugars,organic acids, myo-inositol and shikimate, gm showed a more complex pattern incomparison to the two other traits. Some metabolites, such as malate andmannose, appeared in the models for both conductances, suggesting a metabolicco-regulation between gs and gm. The resulting statistical models provide thefirst hints for co-regulation patterns involving primary metabolism plus leafwater and carbon balances that are conserved across plant species, as well asspecies-specific trends which can be used to determine new biotechnologicaltargets for crop improvement.