The chemical diet of plants and its ramifications on carbon loss in leaves. This project will developing a novel framework to significantly improve our understanding of plant nocturnal leaf respiratio

Description

The chemical diet of plants and its ramifications on carbon loss in leaves. This project will developing a novel framework to significantly improve our understanding of plant nocturnal leaf respiration and its contribution to atmospheric carbon concentrations. It is widely assumed that respiration consumes sugars to make the energy needed to power cells and grow. However, recent work has shown that plants use other substances to fuel respiration, saving sugars for export from leaves to growing tissue. Not using sugars significantly alters carbon dioxide released during respiration, with important consequences for climate models that predict plant-atmosphere carbon exchange. Expected outcomes include a better representation of how carbon release from vegetation is accounted for in global carbon cycles.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3108 - Plant Biology. Lead: Dr Andrew Scafaro