A Changing Light Environment Induces Significant Lateral CO₂ Diffusion within Maize Leaves

A leaf structure with high porosity is beneficial for lateral CO2 diffusion inside the leaves. However, the leaf structure of maize is compact, and it has long been considered that lateral CO2 diffusion is restricted. Moreover, lateral CO2 diffusion is closely related to CO2 pressure differences (ΔCO2). Therefore, we speculated that enlarging the ΔCO2 between the adjacent regions inside maize leaves may result in lateral diffusion when the diffusion resistance is kept constant. Thus, the leaf structure and gas exchange of maize (C4), cotton (C3), and other species were explored. The results showed that maize and sorghum leaves had a lower mesophyll porosity than cotton and cucumber leaves. Similar to cotton, the local photosynthetic induction resulted in an increase in the ΔCO2 between the local illuminated and the adjacent unilluminated regions, which significantly reduced the respiration rate of the adjacent unilluminated region. Further analysis showed that when the adjacent region in the maize leaves was maintained under a steady high light, the photosynthesis induction in the local regions not only gradually reduced the ΔCO2 between them but also progressively increased the steady photosynthetic rate in the adjacent region. Under field conditions, the ΔCO2, respiration, and photosynthetic rate of the adjacent region were also markedly changed by fluctuating light in local regions in the maize leaves. Consequently, we proposed that enlarging the ΔCO2 between the adjacent regions inside the maize leaves results in the lateral CO2 diffusion and supports photosynthesis in adjacent regions to a certain extent under fluctuating light