AUTHOR=Liu Liang , Hao Lihua , Zhang Yunxin , Zhou Haoran , Ma Baoguo , Cheng Yao , Tian Yinshuai , Chang Zhijie , Zheng Yunpu TITLE=The CO2 fertilization effect on leaf photosynthesis of maize (Zea mays L.) depends on growth temperatures with changes in leaf anatomy and soluble sugars JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.890928 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.890928 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=

Understanding the potential mechanisms and processes of leaf photosynthesis in response to elevated CO₂ concentration ([CO₂]) and temperature is critical for estimating the impacts of climatic change on the growth and yield in crops such as maize (Zea mays L.), which is a widely cultivated C₄ crop all over the world. We examined the combined effect of elevated [CO₂] and temperature on plant growth, leaf photosynthesis, stomatal traits, and biochemical compositions of maize with six environmental growth chambers controlling two CO₂ levels (400 and 800 μmol mol⁻¹) and three temperature regimes (25/19°C, 31/25°C, and 37/31°C). We found that leaf photosynthesis was significantly enhanced by increasing growth temperature from 25/19°C to 31/25°C independent of [CO₂]. However, leaf photosynthesis drastically declined when the growth temperature was continually increased to 37/31°C at both ambient CO₂ concentration (400 μmol mol⁻¹, a[CO₂]) and elevated CO₂ concentration (800 μmol mol⁻¹, e[CO₂]). Meanwhile, we also found strong CO₂ fertilization effect on maize plants grown at the highest temperature (37/31°C), as evidenced by the higher leaf photosynthesis at e[CO₂] than that at a[CO₂], although leaf photosynthesis was similar between a[CO₂] and e[CO₂] under the other two temperature regimes of 25/19°C and 31/25°C. Furthermore, we also found that e[CO₂] resulted in an increase in leaf soluble sugar, which was positively related with leaf photosynthesis under the high temperature regime of 37/31°C (R² = 0.77). In addition, our results showed that e[CO₂] substantially decreased leaf transpiration rates of maize plants, which might be partially attributed to the reduced stomatal openness as demonstrated by the declined stomatal width and stomatal area. These results suggest that the CO₂ fertilization effect on plant growth and leaf photosynthesis of maize depends on growth temperatures through changing stomatal traits, leaf anatomy, and soluble sugar contents.