Acclimation of rice to changing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration

Abstract. The effects were studied of season-long (75 and 88d) exposure of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. IR-30) to a range of atmospheric CO₂ concentrations in outdoor, computer-controlled, environment chambers under natural solar radiation. The CO₂ concentrations were maintained at 160, 250, 330, 500, 660 and 900μmol mol^-1 air. Photosynthesis increased with increasing growth CO₂ concentrations up to 500u.mol moP1, but levelled off at higher CO₂ values. Specific leaf area also increased significantly with increasing CO₂. Although leaf dry weight and leaf area index increased, the overall response was not statistically significant. Leaf nitrogen content dropped slightly with elevated CO₂, but the response was not statistically significant. The specific activity of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rubisco) declined significantly over the CO₂ concentration range 160 to 900μmol mol^-1. When expressed on a leaf area basis, rubisco activity decreased by 66%. This was accompanied by a 32% decrease in the amount of rubisco protein as a fraction of the total soluble leaf protein, and by 60% on a leaf area basis. For leaves in the dark, the total rubisco activity (CO₂/Mg²⁺-activated) was reduced by more than 60%. This indicates that rice accumulated an inhibitor in the dark, probably 2-car-boxyarabinitol 1-phosphate (CA-1-P). However, the inhibitor did not seem to be involved in the acclimation response. The degree of carbamylation of the rubisco enzyme was unchanged by the CO2 growth regime, except at 900 [μmol mol^-1 where it was reduced by 24%. The acclimation of rice to different atmospheric CO₂ conditions involved the modulation of both the activity and amount of rubisco protein in the leaf.