http://eco.confex.com/eco/2009/techprogram/P19897.HTM ...Here we present results of the most extensive characterization to date of isoprene emission from 25 genera, 72 species, and 95 varieties of ornamental bamboo. Surprisingly, we found a high degree of variability in isoprene emission rates across genera and among species within genera. In general, fast-growing monopodial (running) genera such as Phyllostachys, to which common horticultural varieties of black bamboo and golden bamboo belong, were found to emit significant quantities of isoprene (average: 581 nmol isoprene g DW-1 h-1), while sympodial (clumping) bamboos were found to emit relatively small amounts of this volatile hydrocarbon (average: 87 nmol isoprene g DW-1 h-1). Results from this study indicate that horticultural varieties of bamboo vary greatly with respect to isoprene emission potential. This extreme variation in basal isoprene emission will be related to variation in fundamental drivers of leaf isoprene emission, including leaf respiration rate, isoprene synthase activity, and variation in supply of isoprene precursor metabolites. Results from this study suggest that bamboo is likely to be an important model system for studying the impacts of isoprene emission in urban ecosystems and for examining the physiological mechanisms that dictate a wide range of basal isoprene emission rates.