Improving yield by exploiting mechanisms underlying natural variation of photosynthesis.

Increasing photosynthesis in C3 species has been identified as an approach to increase the yield of crop plants. Most of our knowledge of photosynthetic performance has come from studies in which plants were grown in controlled growth conditions but plants in natural environments have to cope with unpredictable and rapidly changing conditions. Plants adapt to the light environment in which they grow and this is demonstrated by the differences in anatomy and morphology of leaves in sun and shade leaves. Superimposed on this are the dynamic responses of plants to rapid changes in the light environment that occur throughout the day. Application of next generation sequencing (NGS), QTL analysis and innovative phenomic screening can provide information to underpin approaches for breeding of higher yielding crop plants.

[1]  C. Raines.  Increasing Photosynthetic Carbon Assimilation in C3 Plants to Improve Crop Yield: Current and Future Strategies , 2010, Plant Physiology.

[2]  K. Raschke.  Leaf Hydraulic System: Rapid Epidermal and Stomatal Responses to Changes in Water Supply , 1970, Science.

[3]  C. Külheim,et al.  Rapid Regulation of Light Harvesting and Plant Fitness in the Field , 2002, Science.

[4]  T. Lawson,et al.  Spatial and temporal variation in gas exchange over the lower surface of Phaseolus vulgaris L. primary leaves , 1999 .

[5]  Xin-Guang Zhu,et al.  Improving photosynthetic efficiency for greater yield. , 2010, Annual review of plant biology.

[6]  G. Johnson,et al.  Dynamic Acclimation of Photosynthesis Increases Plant Fitness in Changing Environments1[C][W][OA] , 2009, Plant Physiology.

[7]  P. Coley,et al.  Photosynthetic induction times in shade-tolerant species with long and short-lived leaves , 1993, Oecologia.

[8]  G. F. Sassenrath-Cole,et al.  The role of enzyme activation state in limiting carbon assimilation under variable light conditions , 1994, Photosynthesis Research.

[9]  K. Niyogi,et al.  Non-photochemical quenching. A response to excess light energy. , 2001, Plant physiology.

[10]  R. Bock,et al.  ATP Synthase Repression in Tobacco Restricts Photosynthetic Electron Transport, CO2 Assimilation, and Plant Growth by Overacidification of the Thylakoid Lumen[OA] , 2011, Plant Cell.

[11]  Stan D. Wullschleger,et al.  Biochemical Limitations to Carbon Assimilation in C3 Plants—A Retrospective Analysis of the A/Ci Curves from 109 Species , 1993 .

[12]  D. Kramer,et al.  The Importance of Energy Balance in Improving Photosynthetic Productivity1[W] , 2010, Plant Physiology.

[13]  S. Jackson,et al.  Next-generation sequencing technologies and their implications for crop genetics and breeding. , 2009, Trends in biotechnology.

[14]  C. Peterhänsel.  Best practice procedures for the establishment of a C4 cycle in transgenic C3 plants , 2011 .

[15]  G. Peltier,et al.  Chlororespiration and cyclic electron flow around PSI during photosynthesis and plant stress response. , 2007, Plant, cell & environment.

[16]  T. Sharkey,et al.  Stomatal conductance and photosynthesis , 1982 .

[17]  David Peak,et al.  Stomatal patchiness and task-performing networks. , 2007, Annals of botany.

[18]  Metodi Metodiev,et al.  Thioredoxin-mediated reversible dissociation of a stromal multiprotein complex in response to changes in light availability , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[19]  E H Murchie,et al.  Agriculture and the new challenges for photosynthesis research. , 2009, The New phytologist.

[20]  Detlef Weigel,et al.  Fast-forward genetics enabled by new sequencing technologies. , 2011, Trends in plant science.

[21]  Susanne von Caemmerer,et al.  Enhancing C3 Photosynthesis , 2010, Plant Physiology.

[22]  Mark G. M. Aarts,et al.  Natural genetic variation in plant photosynthesis. , 2011, Trends in plant science.

[23]  Martin A. J. Parry,et al.  Discoveries in Rubisco (Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase): a historical perspective , 2007, Photosynthesis Research.

[24]  C. Tinoco-Ojanguren,et al.  Stomatal dynamics and its importance to carbon gain in two rainforest Piper species , 1993, Oecologia.

[25]  N. Holbrook,et al.  Independent variation in photosynthetic capacity and stomatal conductance leads to differences in intrinsic water use efficiency in 11 soybean genotypes before and during mild drought. , 2011, Journal of experimental botany.

[26]  T. Lawson,et al.  Heterogeneity in Stomatal Characteristics , 1997 .

[27]  R. Scheibe,et al.  Co-existence of two regulatory NADP-glyceraldehyde 3-P dehydrogenase complexes in higher plant chloroplasts. , 2002, European journal of biochemistry.

[28]  E. Aro,et al.  Novel insights into plant light-harvesting complex II phosphorylation and 'state transitions'. , 2011, Trends in plant science.

[29]  P. J. Andralojc,et al.  Raising yield potential of wheat. II. Increasing photosynthetic capacity and efficiency. , 2011, Journal of experimental botany.

[30]  K. Hikosaka.  Mechanisms underlying interspecific variation in photosynthetic capacity across wild plant species , 2010 .

[31]  V. Maurino,et al.  Focus Issue on Enhancing Photosynthesis: Photorespiration Redesigned , 2011 .

[32]  S. Long,et al.  Can improvement in photosynthesis increase crop yields? , 2006, Plant, cell & environment.

[33]  R. Richards.  Selectable traits to increase crop photosynthesis and yield of grain crops. , 2000, Journal of experimental botany.

[34]  T. Lawson,et al.  Photosynthesis and Stomatal Behaviour , 2010 .

[35]  C. Raines,et al.  Inter-species variation in the oligomeric states of the higher plant Calvin cycle enzymes glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoribulokinase , 2011, Journal of experimental botany.

[36]  A. Esteban-Carrasco,et al.  Inactivation of a plastid evolutionary conserved gene affects PSII electron transport, life span and fitness of tobacco plants. , 2007, The New phytologist.

[37]  H. Scheller,et al.  Balance of power: a view of the mechanism of photosynthetic state transitions. , 2001, Trends in plant science.

[38]  J. Pospišilová,et al.  Photosynthetic characteristics during ontogenesis of leaves. 8. Stomatal diffusive conductance and stomata reactivity , 1983 .

[39]  Robert W. Pearcy,et al.  Observed and modelled stomatal responses to dynamic light environments in the shade plant Alocasia macrorrhiza , 1988 .

[40]  B. Buchanan,et al.  Redox regulation: a broadening horizon. , 2005, Annual review of plant biology.

[41]  Erik H Murchie,et al.  Manipulation of Photoprotection to Improve Plant Photosynthesis1 , 2010, Plant Physiology.

[42]  G. F. Sassenrath-Cole,et al.  Regulation of Photosynthetic Induction State by the Magnitude and Duration of Low Light Exposure , 1994, Plant physiology.

[43]  B. Paap,et al.  CP12 provides a new mode of light regulation of Calvin cycle activity in higher plants. , 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[44]  K. Mott.  Opinion: stomatal responses to light and CO(2) depend on the mesophyll. , 2009, Plant, cell & environment.

[45]  Tracy Lawson,et al.  Increased Sedoheptulose-1,7-Bisphosphatase Activity in Transgenic Tobacco Plants Stimulates Photosynthesis and Growth from an Early Stage in Development1 , 2005, Plant Physiology.

[46]  R. W. Pearcy,et al.  Stomatal versus biochemical limitations to dynamic photosynthetic performance in four tropical rainforest shrub species , 2000, Oecologia.

[47]  J. Soll,et al.  Evolutionary conserved light regulation of Calvin cycle activity by NADPH-mediated reversible phosphoribulokinase/CP12/ glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase complex dissociation. , 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[48]  D. Sims,et al.  5 – Photosynthetic Acclimation to Changing Light Environments: Scaling from the Leaf to the Whole Plant , 1994 .