Summary
Elodea canadensis grows over a wide range of inorganic carbon, nutrient, and light conditions in lakes and streams. Affinity for HCO -3 use during photosynthesis ranged from strong to weak in Elodea collected from seven localities with different HCO -3 and CO2 concentrations. The response to HCO -3 was also very plastic in plants grown in the laboratory at high HCO -3 concentrations and CO2 concentrations varying from 14.8 to 2,200 μM. Bicarbonate affinity was markedly reduced with increasing CO2 concentrations in the growth medium so that ultimately HCO -3 use was not detectable. High CO2 concentrations also decreased CO2 affinity and induced high CO2 compensation points (360μM CO2) and tenfold higher half-saturation values (∼800 μM CO2).
The variable HCO -3 affinity is probably environmentally based. Elodea is a recently introduced species in Denmark, where it reproduces only vegetatively, leaving little opportunity for genetic variation. More important, local populations in the same water system had different HCO -3 affinities, and a similar variation was created by exposing one plant collection to different laboratory conditions.
Bicarbonate use enabled Elodea to photosynthesize rapidly in waters of high alkalinity and enhanced the carbon-extracting capacity by maintaining photosynthesis above pH 10. On the other hand, use of HCO -3 represents an investment in transport apparatus and energy which is probably not profitable when CO2 is high and HCO -3 is low. This explanation is supported by the findings that HCO -3 affinity was low in field populations where HCO -3 was low (0.5 and 0.9 m M) or CO2 was locally high, and that HCO -3 affinity was suppressed in the laboratory by high CO2 concentrations.
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Abbreviations
- DIC:
-
dissolved inorganic carbon (CO2+ HCO -3 +CO -3 )
- τ:
-
CO2 compensation point
- K 1/2 :
-
apparent halfsaturation constant
- PHCO −3 :
-
interpolated photosynthesis in pure HCO -3 and zero CO2
- Pmax :
-
photosynthetic rate under carbon and light saturation
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Sand-Jensen, K., Gordon, D.M. Variable HCO -3 affinity of Elodea canadensis Michaux in response to different HCO -3 and CO2 concentrations during growth. Oecologia 70, 426–432 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379507
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379507