Calorespirometry in Plant Biology

Calorespirometry is a means for understanding how plants adapt and acclimate metabolically to their environment. Analysis of the energetics of respiration shows that measurements of metabolic heat and CO2 rates by calorespirometry, combined with estimates of substrate and biomass composition, are sufficient to calculate substrate carbon-conversion efficiencies, anabolic rates or rates of growth and development, and relative activities of metabolic paths. Calorespirometric measurements can thus be used to rapidly investigate the responses of plant growth and metabolism to varying conditions and to compare the responses of species and genotypes. Calorespirometric and calorimetric methods have been used to determine the temperature dependence of growth rate, temperature limits for growth, the kinetics of both chilling- and high-temperature responses, and the effects of toxins and nutrient deficiencies.