Effect of Thermal History on Photosynthate Translocation and Photosynthesis

Abstract

Plants of Pennisetum americanum, previously grown at a lower temperature, exhibited relatively low 14C translocation and photosynthetic rates when moved to a warmer environment. The source leaves retained the same amount of photosynthate as did leaves of plants that were grown continuously at high temperature. We hypothesize that the lack of adaptation is due to leaf structure, determined during pretreatment, limiting the above processes.