Dark Leaf Respiration in Light and Darkness of an Evergreen and a Deciduous Plant Species.

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Dark respiration in light as well as in dark was estimated for attached leaves of an evergreen (Heteromeles arbutifolia Ait.) and a deciduous (Lepechinia fragans Greene) shrub species using an open gas-exchange system. Dark respiration in light was estimated by the Laisk method. Respiration rates in the dark were always higher than in the light, indicating that light inhibited respiration in both species. The rates of respiration in the dark were higher in the leaves of the deciduous species than in the evergreen species. However, there were no significant differences in respiration rates in light between the species. Thus, the degree of inhibition of respiration by light was greater in the deciduous species (62%) than in the evergreen species (51%). Respiration in both the light and darkness decreased with increasing leaf age. However, because respiration in the light decreased faster with leaf age than respiration in darkness, the degree of inhibition of respiration by light increased with leaf age (from 36% in the youngest leaves to 81% in the mature leaves). This suggests that the rate of dark respiration in the light is related to the rate of biosynthetic processes. Dark respiration in the light decreased with increasing light intensity. Respiration both in the light and in the dark was dependent on leaf temperature. We concluded that respiration in light and respiration in darkness are tightly coupled, with variation in respiration in darkness accounting for more than 60% of the variation in respiration in light. Care must be taken when the relation between respiration in light and respiration in darkness is studied, because the relation varies with species, leaf age, and light intensity.

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