Plant Respiration: Metabolic Fluxes and Carbon Balance

Plants assimilate carbon dioxide (CO₂) via photosynthesis but also evolve CO₂ via respiration and photorespiration. In the past decades, our understanding of factors that determine photosynthesis and photorespiration rates has been extensive, but the knowledge of effective determinants of respiration has remained elusive. At the heart of this paradigm is the way respiratory metabolism utilizes carbon fixed by photosynthesis to provide energy and carbon skeletons for growth. Unsurprisingly therefore, the control of plant respiration and global impacts of CO₂ evolution by plants is a rapidly growing research field, which takes advantage of new generation technologies, from stable isotopes to wide-scale modelling.

This book has a strong research orientation, telling readers what the latest views and concepts about plant respiration are in the present research scene, and how methodologies for metabolic fluxes have been used to maximize effectiveness in terms of understanding processes in plant respiration. The book is intended for a readership including post-graduates and researchers in plant physiology. This book provides the essential knowledge of plant respiratory metabolism, written by international experts. The book covers hot topics from metabolic fluxes, enzymatic regulation by post-translational modifications, interactions between metabolic pathways, alternative respiratory metabolism, and models of CO₂ efflux under a changing climate.