Radiation capture and conversion efficiencies of , and their naturally occurring hybrid . × .

is a rhizomatous C4 grass of great interest as a biofuel crop because it has the potential to produce high yields over a wide geographical area with low agricultural inputs on marginal land less suitable for food production. At the moment, a clonal interspecific hybrid  ×  is the most widely cultivated and studied in Europe and the United States, but breeding programmes are developing newer more productive varieties. Here, we quantified the physiological processes relating to whole season yield in a replicated plot trial in Wales, UK.

A critical role for ChREBP-mediated FGF21 secretion in hepatic fructose metabolism.

Objective: Increased fructose consumption is a contributor to the burgeoning epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Recent evidence indicates that the metabolic hormone FGF21 is regulated by fructose consumption in humans and rodents and may play a functional role in this nutritional context. Here, we sought to define the mechanism by which fructose ingestion regulates FGF21 and determine whether FGF21 contributes to an adaptive metabolic response to fructose consumption.

Reduced plant water status under sub-ambient pCO2 limits plant productivity in the wild progenitors of C3 and C4 cereals.

Background And Aims: The reduction of plant productivity by low atmospheric CO partial pressure (pCO) during the last glacial period is proposed as a limiting factor for the establishment of agriculture. Supporting this hypothesis, previous work has shown that glacial pCO limits biomass in the wild progenitors of C and C founder crops, in part due to the direct effects of glacial pCO on photosynthesis. Here, we investigate the indirect role of pCO mediated via water status, hypothesizing that faster soil water depletion at glacial (18 Pa) compared to post-glacial (27 Pa) pCO, due to greater stomatal conductance, feeds back to limit photosynthesis during drying cycles.

Yield responses of wild C and C crop progenitors to subambient CO : a test for the role of CO limitation in the origin of agriculture.

Limitation of plant productivity by the low partial pressure of atmospheric CO (C ) experienced during the last glacial period is hypothesized to have been an important constraint on the origins of agriculture. In support of this hypothesis, previous work has shown that glacial C limits vegetative growth in the wild progenitors of both C and C founder crops. Here, we present data showing that glacial C also reduces grain yield in both crop types.

Development of a sink-source interaction model for the growth of short-rotation coppice willow and in silico exploration of genotype×environment effects.

Identifying key performance traits is essential for elucidating crop growth processes and breeding. In Salix spp., genotypic diversity is being exploited to tailor new varieties to overcome environmental yield constraints.