Photosynthesis in Sugarcane

Sugarcane and related species utilize the NADP malic enzyme type of C4 photosynthesis, which confers superior radiation-, nitrogen-, and wateruse efficiencies relative to C3 plants in the warm environments where sugarcane thrives. By being able to concentrate CO2 around Rubisco, sugarcane avoids limitations due to photorespiration and exhibits superior photosynthesis over C3 plants at low CO2 levels and warm temperatures. In both C3 and C4 plants, the biochemical mechanisms controlling the temperature response of A are less well resolved than the mechanisms governing the A/Ci response. In leaves with reduced N, photosynthesis in sugarcane could become less efficient, because an imbalance between the C3 and C4 metabolic cycles may promote leakage of bundle sheath CO2 out of the leaf.