2 H-enrichment of cellulose and n-alkanes in heterotrophic plants

Abstract

Hydrogen (H) isotopes of plant organic compounds are rarely employed in ecological studies. If so, these values are interpreted as being indicative of the plant source and/or leaf water. Recent observations suggest, however, that variations in hydrogen isotope fractionation that occur during the biosynthesis of plant compounds ( 2 H-ε bio ) imprint valuable metabolic information into the hydrogen isotope composition (δ 2 H values) of plant organic compounds. Here we show a consistent 2 H-enrichment of compounds in heterotrophically growing plants across a series of autotrophic/heterotrophic plant pairs. We suggest that this is due to a higher recycling of compounds in the Calvin and tricarboxylic acid cycles in heterotrophic plants that is associated with a more complete exchange of C-bound H with the surrounding 2 H-enriched foliar water. Interestingly, we found that 2 H-enrichment in heterotrophic plants was larger for carbohydrates than for lipids, with an average 2 H-enrichment of 76 ± 9‰ in α-cellulose and 23 ± 23‰ in n-alkanes. We propose that this systematically larger 2 H-enrichment for carbohydrates than for lipids is either due to different level of 2 H-fractionation associated with heterotrophically produced NADPH, or to the potential uptake of lipids by heterotrophic plants. With the work we present here, we contribute to a better mechanistic understanding of what the biochemical principles are that couple the carbohydrate dynamics of plants to their δ 2 H values and hope to foster as such the application of H isotopes in plant sciences.