COS 61-7 - Mechanisms regulating thermal acclimation of respiration in snow tussock on short timescales

Wednesday, August 5, 2009: 10:10 AM
Grand Pavillion I, Hyatt
Stephanie Y. Searle1, Samuel Thomas2, Matthew Turnbull1, Kevin L. Griffin3, Ari Kornfeld1, Owen Atkin4, Dan Yakir5, Travis Horton6 and Vaughan Hurry7, (1)School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, (2)Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, (3)Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, (4)ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Canberra, Australia, (5)Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, (6)Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, (7)Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Background/Question/Methods

Plant respiration is an important component of the global carbon budget, and its response to temperature is dynamic on long and short timescales. Here, we examine the thermal acclimation of respiration in Chionochloa pallens and C. rubra, two species of native tussock grass growing on Mt. Hutt, New Zealand, to short term (several day) temperature fluctuations in the field and under laboratory conditions. In particular, using a novel gas sampling technique, we investigate whether in vivo engagement of alternative oxidase (AOX), which catalyzes the so-called “energy wasteful” CN-resistant respiratory pathway in plants, plays a role in regulating acclimation on short timescales. 
Results/Conclusions

We find evidence of acclimation of respiration in snow tussock to as little as 24-hour changes in temperature; R10 and Q10 increase with cold treatment and decrease again with a reversal to warm conditions. Respiratory parameters are correlated with changes in AOX engagement, protein expression of AOX and cytochrome c oxidase, carbohydrates, and chlorophyll fluorescence yield. Understanding how respiratory acclimation in plants is regulated will help scale predictions of carbon cycling from the plant to the global level.

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