photorespiration

1 9.9

A plant process that uses oxygen and releases carbon dioxide in light, reducing sugar production

noun
/ˌfoʊtoʊˌrɛspəˈreɪʃən/

Specialized

: fotorespiración

Examples

For example, watch the first 60 seconds of a video on photorespiration from the Khan Academy, but as you do, put yourself in the shoes of a student with SLD in an area related to reading or language processing.

Academic text (2013)
Part of the CO2 fixed into carbohydrate is reoxidized back to CO2 via photorespiration, a process suppressed by CO2 itself.

Academic text (1994)
In plants, photorespiration reduces the efficiency of photosynthesis by taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
During photorespiration, plants consume oxygen and emit carbon dioxide, which can hinder their growth.
Scientists study photorespiration to understand how it affects the overall efficiency of plant photosynthesis.

Surface Forms

photorespiration singular

photorespirations plural

Morphology

photorespiration = respiration (semi-transparent) = photo + respire + ation

The word is built by adding photo- to respiration, but the exact biological process is specialized rather than fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The word photorespiration comes from photo- meaning 'light' and respiration meaning 'breathing'. So photorespiration is like 'light breathing' in plants: in the light they take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide, which reduces the sugar they make.