Involvement of nitrogen and cytokinins in photosynthetic acclimation to elevated CO2 of spring wheat

Acclimation of photosynthetic capacity to elevated CO2 involves a decrease of the leaf Rubisco content. In the present study, it was hypothesized that nitrogen uptake and partitioning within the leaf and among different aboveground organs affects the down-regulation of Rubisco. Given the interdependence of nitrogen and cytokinin signals at the whole plant level, it is also proposed that cytokinins affect the nitrogen economy of plants under elevated CO2, and therefore the acclimatory responses. Spring wheat received varying levels of nitrogen and cytokinin in field chambers with ambient (370 μmol mol−1) or elevated (700 μmol mol−1) atmospheric CO2. Gas exchange, Rubisco, soluble protein and nitrogen contents were determined in the top three leaves in the canopy, together with total nitrogen contents per shoot. Growth in elevated CO2 induced decreases in photosynthetic capacity only when nitrogen supply was low. However, the leaf contents of Rubisco, soluble protein and total nitrogen on an area basis declined in elevated CO2 regardless of nitrogen supply. Total nitrogen in the shoot was no lower in elevated than ambient CO2, but the fraction of this nitrogen located in flag and penultimate leaves was lower in elevated CO2. Decreased Rubisco: chlorophyll ratios accompanied losses of leaf Rubisco with CO2 enrichment. Cytokinin applications increased nitrogen content in all leaves and nitrogen allocation to senescing leaves, but decreased Rubisco contents in flag leaves at anthesis and in all leaves 20 days later, together with the amount of Rubisco relative to soluble protein in all leaves at both growth stages. The results suggest that down regulation of Rubisco in leaves at elevated CO2 is linked with decreased allocation of nitrogen to the younger leaves and that cytokinins cause a fractional decrease of Rubisco and therefore do not alleviate acclimation to elevated CO2.