The breakdown of sugars to release energy in a process that provides the chemical energy source for all cellular activities. Respiration depends on a supply of glucose (from photosynthesis), oxygen and suitable temperature.
Last time I introduced photosynthesis, one of the key processes in turfgrass physiology, used by plants to produce their own food. This happens when the plants use the photosynthesis process to turn carbon dioxide taken in from the air by the leaves into a simple sugar (glucose) product that can then be used to fuel the growth and build tissue in all areas of the plant. We saw how the glucose can be used immediately to fuel the plant’s internal processes, or be stored as starch for later use.
The plant uses a process called Respiration to drive growth and development. In much the same way that we respire, i.e. burning food to grow, develop and keep our bodies healthy, plants burn the food created by photosynthesis to fuel growth and to build and repair all of the component parts of the plant.
A simple way to think of Respiration is that it is almost the opposite reaction to Photosynthesis. Here’s how it looks:
Glucose + Oxygen ——————> Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy
You will see from the equation above that in addition to the energy developed, there is quite a lot of by product in the form of CO2 and Water. Respiration is quite a wasteful process and a lot of the energy produced is given off as heat into the bargain.
Respiration takes place in all plant cells but can only use one source of fuel and that is the glucose or starch already produced by photosynthesis. This means that Photosynthesis and Respiration are locked into a kind of race. As Respiration fuels growth it is said to assimilate the products of photosynthesis i.e. assimilate the food into plant tissue. This means that for good steady plant growth, photosynthesis must produce more food than respiration requires. The measurement of this is called the Net Assimilation Rate (NAR). We will look at this process in a bit more detail in a later article, but for now it’s enough to know that when photosynthesis can’t keep up with respiration, growth and repair will slow down or even stop.
Respiration operates continually even at night and of course Photosynthesis only happens in sunlight. Both processes require a suitable temperature to work also. This explains the slow down of growth in the cooler, darker months. It also explains the need for different turf management practices where there is shade.
If photosynthesis stops or is even reduced, the plant becomes unable to grow and becomes semi-dormant. With our cool season grasses in the UK, semi-dormancy is usually the full extent of the slow down we see. In a warm winter week, we will usually see a restart of growth and we will probably need to give the green a cut a few times over the winter as growth doesn’t usually stop completely.
However, there are transition zones around the world where it is too hot in summer to use cool season grasses and too cold in winter for warm season grasses, and in these areas the warm season species’ can experience full dormancy where the grass turns completely brown or yellow for the entire winter period.
Dormancy aside, if the plant is to survive, then respiration must continue even in the winter and this is why we see a completely natural receding or shrinking back of the grass plants on our greens even if we leave them mown at a fairly high height of cut at the start of winter. The plants start to use up some of the starch reserves saved in the good days when NAR was low (photosynthesis easily keeping up with respiration) in the roots, stems and crowns of the plants. When this reserve is depleted, the plant must conserve energy by reducing its biomass. Roots will recede and leaf tissue will be sacrificed for the greater good of winter survival.
To wrap up for today, Respiration is the process used by the plant to convert food into plant tissue and is the main driver of growth, repair and reproduction in the grass plant. When photosynthesis (production) is greater than respiration (consumption) then growth will continue unabated. When the opposite happens, then growth slows and semi-dormancy can occur.
Next time we will start to look at the internal mechanisms the plant uses to take in water and nutrients.