Improving Photosynthetic Efficiency for Greater Yield
Top Cited Papers
- 2 June 2010
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Annual Reviews in Annual Review of Plant Biology
- Vol. 61 (1), 235-261
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042809-112206
Abstract
Increasing the yield potential of the major food grain crops has contributed very significantly to a rising food supply over the past 50 years, which has until recently more than kept pace with rising global demand. Whereas improved photosynthetic efficiency has played only a minor role in the remarkable increases in productivity achieved in the last half century, further increases in yield potential will rely in large part on improved photosynthesis. Here we examine inefficiencies in photosynthetic energy transduction in crops from light interception to carbohydrate synthesis, and how classical breeding, systems biology, and synthetic biology are providing new opportunities to develop more productive germplasm. Near-term opportunities include improving the display of leaves in crop canopies to avoid light saturation of individual leaves and further investigation of a photorespiratory bypass that has already improved the productivity of model species. Longer-term opportunities include engineering into plants carboxylases that are better adapted to current and forthcoming CO2concentrations, and the use of modeling to guide molecular optimization of resource investment among the components of the photosynthetic apparatus, to maximize carbon gain without increasing crop inputs. Collectively, these changes have the potential to more than double the yield potential of our major crops.Keywords
This publication has 120 references indexed in Scilit:
- More Productive Than Maize in the Midwest: How Does Miscanthus Do It?Plant Physiology, 2009
- Genomic basis for stimulated respiration by plants growing under elevated carbon dioxideProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009
- Causes of decreased photosynthetic rate and metabolic capacity in water-deficient leaf cells: a critical evaluation of mechanisms and integration of processesAnnals of Botany, 2009
- The crucial role of plant mitochondria in orchestrating drought toleranceAnnals of Botany, 2008
- What is the maximum efficiency with which photosynthesis can convert solar energy into biomass?Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 2008
- Using C4 photosynthesis to increase the yield of rice—rationale and feasibilityCurrent Opinion in Plant Biology, 2008
- Optimizing the Distribution of Resources between Enzymes of Carbon Metabolism Can Dramatically Increase Photosynthetic Rate: A Numerical Simulation Using an Evolutionary AlgorithmPlant Physiology, 2007
- Morphological Alteration Caused by Brassinosteroid Insensitivity Increases the Biomass and Grain Production of RicePlant Physiology, 2006
- Photon yield of O2 evolution and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics at 77 K among vascular plants of diverse originsPlanta, 1987
- A biochemical model of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in leaves of C3 speciesPlanta, 1980