Effect of high irradiance on photosynthesis and photorespiration in wheat

Abstract

Stomatal opening, net photosynthesis, enzyme activities of RuBPC and PEPC, and photosyntheticphotorespiratory metabolisms were studied in wheat under increasing irradiance from 40 to 2 000 μmoles. m-2 .s-1. The studies on the first three confirmed data well known in wheat. Results on relative variation in metabolic flux suggested that photorespiration plays a positive part in production, in protecting chloroplast structures and diversifying photosynthetic biosynthesis.