poster
Understanding nutritional response to eCO2 under a range of temperatures in wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia)
The continual progression of climate change is creating intense challenges for food producers, as delivering adequate crop yield and quality to a growing population is becoming increasingly difficult. Incremental increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations unpredictably affect crop physiology and biochemical profiles, leading to inconsistent crop yields and nutritional quality. Of course, eCO2 will not occur in isolation and, when coupled with high temperatures, may further deteriorate crop nutrient content. Research suggests that plants using the rare C2 carbon concentrating mechanism may tolerate warm temperature better than plants using the very common C3 photosynthetic pathway. C2 photosynthesis uses a glycine shuttle to effectively concentrate and reclaim carbon released from photorespiration, ultimately boosting rates of photosynthesis under warm and dry environments that promote high rates of photorespiration. Although C3 plants are predicted to fix more carbon under eCO2, the warm temperatures that accompany climate change should disadvantage C3 plants. eCO2 also influence plant biochemistry and consequently nutrition. The carbon dilution effect effectively reduces nutrient and protein contents, which translates into lower quality crops. How the nutritive properties of C2 plants will respond to eCO2 has never been investigated. Using diverse cultivars of wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), the only crop in commercial food production that uses C2 photosynthesis, we examine the combined effects of temperature and eCO2 on the nutritional profile of this salad crop.