Abstract
Many plants change the temperature dependence of photosynthesis in response to growth temperature. This is a well-known phenomenon called "temperature acclimation of photosynthesis". Using spinach leaves from plants grown at contrasting temperatures, we identified several important factors involving in the temperature acclimation of photosynthesis: 1) balance of the two photosynthetic partial reactions, RuBP carboxylation reaction and RuBP regeneration reaction (= electron transport reaction), 2) the Rubisco activation state and 3) the Rubisco kinetic properties. All these parameters changed in response to changes in growth temperature. We also showed that the changes in the Rubisco small subunit are important for the temperature acclimation of the Rubisco kinetic properties, based on analyses with the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. In this symposium, we will discuss the mechanisms of the temperature acclimation of photosynthesis, based on our research results.
