Journal
FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY
Volume 37, Issue 3, Pages 223-231Publisher
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/FP09164
Keywords
carbon partition; fructan active enzymes; non-structural carbohydrates; reserve organs
Categories
Funding
- FAPESP [98/05124-8, 05/04139-7, 07/59782-7]
- CNPq [474674/2004-5]
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Carbon allocation in biomass is an important response of plants to the increasing atmospheric [CO2]. The effects of elevated [CO2] are scarcely reported in fructan-accumulating plants and even less in tropical wild species storing this type of carbohydrate. In the present study, the effects of high [CO2] atmosphere was evaluated on growth, biomass allocation and fructan metabolism in Vernonia herbacea (Vell.) Rusby, an Asteraceae from the Brazilian cerrado, which accumulates inulin-type fructans in the underground organs (rhizophores). Plants were cultivated for 120 days in open-top chambers (OTCs) under ambient (similar to 380 mu mol mol(-1)), and elevated (similar to 760 mu mol mol(-1)) [CO2]. Plant growth, photosynthesis, fructan contents, and the activities of fructan metabolising enzymes were analysed in the rhizophores at Time 0 and 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. Plants under elevated [CO2] presented increases in height (40%), photosynthesis (63%) and biomass of aerial (32%) and underground (47%) organs when compared with control plants. Under elevated [CO2] plants also presented higher 1-SST, 1-FFT and invertase activities and lower 1-FEH activity. Although fructan concentration remained unchanged, fructan productivity was higher in plants maintained under elevated [CO2], due to their higher rhizophore biomass. This is the first report on the effects of elevated [CO2] on a plant species bearing underground organs that accumulate fructans. Our results indicate that plants of V. herbacea can benefit from elevated atmospheric [CO2] by increasing growth and carbon allocation for the production of inulin, and may contribute to predict a future scenario for the impact of this atmospheric condition on the herbaceous vegetation of the cerrado.
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