Macromolecular rate theory (MMRT) provides a thermodynamics rationale to underpin the convergent temperature response in plant leaf respiration

Liyin L Liang; Vickery L Arcus; Mary A Heskel; Odhran S O'Sullivan; Lasantha K Weerasinghe; Danielle Creek; John J G Egerton; Mark G Tjoelker; Owen K Atkin; Louis A Schipper

doi:10.1111/gcb.13936

Macromolecular rate theory (MMRT) provides a thermodynamics rationale to underpin the convergent temperature response in plant leaf respiration

Glob Chang Biol. 2018 Apr;24(4):1538-1547. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13936. Epub 2017 Nov 14.

Authors

Liyin L Liang¹, Vickery L Arcus¹, Mary A Heskel^{2

3}, Odhran S O'Sullivan², Lasantha K Weerasinghe^{2

4}, Danielle Creek^{2

5}, John J G Egerton², Mark G Tjoelker⁵, Owen K Atkin^{2

6}, Louis A Schipper¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Science, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
² Division of Plant Sciences, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
³ The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA.
⁴ Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
⁵ Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
⁶ ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

PMID: 29030907
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13936

Abstract

Temperature is a crucial factor in determining the rates of ecosystem processes, for example, leaf respiration (R) - the flux of plant respired CO₂ from leaves to the atmosphere. Generally, R increases exponentially with temperature and formulations such as the Arrhenius equation are widely used in earth system models. However, experimental observations have shown a consequential and consistent departure from an exponential increase in R. What are the principles that underlie these observed patterns? Here, we demonstrate that macromolecular rate theory (MMRT), based on transition state theory (TST) for enzyme-catalyzed kinetics, provides a thermodynamic explanation for the observed departure and the convergent temperature response of R using a global database. Three meaningful parameters emerge from MMRT analysis: the temperature at which the rate of respiration would theoretically reach a maximum (the optimum temperature, T_opt ), the temperature at which the respiration rate is most sensitive to changes in temperature (the inflection temperature, T_inf ) and the overall curvature of the log(rate) versus temperature plot (the change in heat capacity for the system, ΔCP‡). On average, the highest potential enzyme-catalyzed rates of respiratory enzymes for R are predicted to occur at 67.0 ± 1.2°C and the maximum temperature sensitivity at 41.4 ± 0.7°C from MMRT. The average curvature (average negative ΔCP‡) was -1.2 ± 0.1 kJ mol^-1 K^-1 . Interestingly, T_opt , T_inf and ΔCP‡ appear insignificantly different across biomes and plant functional types, suggesting that thermal response of respiratory enzymes in leaves could be conserved. The derived parameters from MMRT can serve as thermal traits for plant leaves that represent the collective temperature response of metabolic respiratory enzymes and could be useful to understand regulations of R under a warmer climate. MMRT extends the classic TST to enzyme-catalyzed reactions and provides an accurate and mechanistic model for the short-term temperature response of R around the globe.

Keywords: Arrhenius; climate change; heat capacity; leaf respiration; macromolecular rate theory; temperature response; thermodynamics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Climate
Ecosystem
Hot Temperature*
Models, Biological
Oxygen Consumption
Plant Leaves / physiology
Plants / metabolism*
Respiration
Temperature*
Thermodynamics