Effects of temperature and elevated CO2 on cell division in shoot meristems: differential responses of two natural populations of Dactylis glomerata L.

The aim was to establish whether temperature and/or elevated [CO₂] (-700 μmol mol^?1) affects the cell doubling time (cdt) in the different zones of the shoot apex of two natural populations of Dactylis glomerata originating in Portugal (38° S3′ N) and in Sweden (63° 09′ N). In the Portuguese population at ambient [CO₂], only the pith rib meristem (PRM) exhibited a significant shortening of cdts from 10 to 30 °C. Elevated [CO₂] resulted in a significant shortening of cdt, particularly in the PRM where cdt was reduced 4-8- and 6-1-fold at 10 and 20 °C, respectively, but only 2-fold at 30 °C. In the Swedish population at ambient [CO₂], there were no consistent temperature-dependent alterations to cdt and this population was less responsive to elevated [CO₂] than the Portuguese population. Nevertheless, elevated [CO₂] resulted in a significant shortening of the cdt for some of the zones; the maximum reduction occurred in the PRM at 30 °C. We concluded that in the shoot apex of the Portuguese population, and most notably in the PRM, 10 and 20 °C were non-optimal temperatures for cell division, whilst the Swedish population was relatively buffered against temperature change. Elevated [CO₂] resulted in substantially greater reductions in cdts in the shoot meristem of the Portuguese population than in that of the Swedish population.