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Summary Steady‐state photosynthetic
CO 2responses (A /C icurves) are used to assess environmental responses of photosynthetic traits and to predict future vegetative carbon uptake through modeling. The recent development of rapidA /C icurves (RAC iRs) permits faster assessment of these traits by continuously changing [CO 2] around the leaf, and may reveal additional photosynthetic properties beyond what is practical or possible with steady‐state methods.Gas exchange necessarily incorporates photosynthesis and (photo)respiration. Each process was expected to respond on different timescales due to differences in metabolite compartmentation, biochemistry and diffusive pathways. We hypothesized that metabolic lags in photorespiration relative to photosynthesis/respiration and
CO 2diffusional limitations can be detected by varying the rate of change in [CO 2] duringRAC iR assays. We tested these hypotheses through modeling and experiments at ambient and 2% oxygen.Our data show that photorespiratory delays cause offsets in predicted
CO 2compensation points that are dependent on the rate of change in [CO 2]. Diffusional limitations may reduce the rate of change in chloroplastic [CO 2], causing a reduction in apparentRAC iR slopes under highCO 2ramp rates.Multirate
RAC iRs may prove useful in assessing diffusional limitations to gas exchange and photorespiratory rates. -
Abstract The rapid A‐Ciresponse (RACiR) technique alleviates limitations of measuring photosynthetic capacity by reducing the time needed to determine the maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax) and electron transport rate (Jmax) in leaves. Photosynthetic capacity and its relationships with leaf development are important for understanding ecological and agricultural productivity; however, our current understanding is incomplete. Here, we show that RACiR can be used in previous generation gas exchange systems (i.e., the LI‐6400) and apply this method to rapidly investigate developmental gradients of photosynthetic capacity in poplar. We compared RACiR‐determined Vcmaxand Jmaxas well as respiration and stomatal conductance (gs) across four stages of leaf expansion in
and the poplar hybrid 717‐1B4 (Populus deltoides ×Populus tremula ). These physiological data were paired with leaf traits including nitrogen concentration, chlorophyll concentrations, and specific leaf area. Several traits displayed developmental trends that differed between the poplar species, demonstrating the utility of RACiR approaches to rapidly generate accurate measures of photosynthetic capacity. By using both new and old machines, we have shown how more investigators will be able to incorporate measurements of important photosynthetic traits in future studies and further our understanding of relationships between development and leaf‐level physiology.Populus alba