Journal
FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY
Volume 42, Issue 7, Pages 687-696Publisher
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/FP15057
Keywords
biomass; CO2 diffusion; leaf structure; leaf N content per leaf area
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Funding
- Major International Joint Research Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China [31361140368]
- National Key Technology R & D Program of China [2012BAD04B12]
- Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China [IRT1247]
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [2012SC13]
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Increasing leaf photosynthesis rate (A) is considered an important strategy to increase C-3 crop yields. Leaf A is usually represented by point measurements, but A varies within each leaf, especially within large leaves. However, little is known about the effect of heterogeneity of A within leaves on rice performance. Here we investigated the changes in gas-exchange parameters and leaf structural and chemical features along leaf blades in two rice cultivars. Stomatal and mesophyll conductance as well as leaf nitrogen (N), Rubisco and chlorophyll contents increased from base to apex; consequently, A increased along leaves in both cultivars. The variation in A, leaf N content and Rubisco content within leaves was similar to the variations among cultivars, and the extent of A heterogeneity within leaves varied between cultivars, leading to different efficiencies of biomass accumulation. Furthermore, variation of A within leaves was closely associated with leaf structural and chemical features. Our findings emphasise that functional changes along leaf blades are associated with structural and chemical trait variation and that variation of A within leaves should be considered to achieve progress in future breeding programs.
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