Synthetic photorespiratory bypass improves rice productivity by enhancing photosynthesis and nitrogen uptake.

Photorespiration, often considered as a wasteful process, is a key target for bioengineering to improve crop yields. Several photorespiratory bypasses have been designed to efficiently metabolize 2-phosphoglycolate and increase the CO2 concentration in chloroplasts, thereby reducing photorespiration. However, the suppression of primary nitrate assimilation remains an issue when photorespiration is inhibited.

Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe.

Grazing can alter the physicochemical properties of soil and quickly influence the composition of microbial communities. However, the effects of grazing intensity on fungal community composition in different soil depth remain unclear. On the Inner Mongolia Plateau, we studied the effects of grazing intensity treatments including no grazing (NG), light grazing (LG), moderate grazing (MG), heavy grazing (HG), and over grazing (OG) on the physicochemical properties and fungal community composition of surface (0-20 cm) and subsurface (20-40 cm) soil layers.

Coupling Modelling and Experiments to Analyse Leaf Photosynthesis Under Far-Red Light.

Leaf photosynthesis models are used extensively in photosynthesis research and are embedded in many larger scale models. Typical photosynthesis models simplify light intensity as the integrated intensity over the 400-700 nm waveband (photosynthetic active radiation, PAR). However, far-red light (700-750 nm, FR) also drives photosynthesis when supplied in addition to light within the PAR spectrum.

Stomatal opening under high temperatures is controlled by the OST1-regulated TOT3-AHA1 module.

Plants continuously respond to changing environmental conditions to prevent damage and maintain optimal performance. To regulate gas exchange with the environment and to control abiotic stress relief, plants have pores in their leaf epidermis, called stomata. Multiple environmental signals affect the opening and closing of these stomata.

Expanding the Triangle of U: Comparative analysis of the Hirschfeldia incana genome provides insights into chromosomal evolution, phylogenomics and high photosynthesis-related traits.

Background And Aims: The Brassiceae tribe encompasses many economically important crops and exhibits high intraspecific and interspecific phenotypic variation. After a shared whole-genome triplication (WGT) event (Br-α, ~15.9 million years ago), differential lineage diversification and genomic changes contributed to an array of divergence in morphology, biochemistry, and physiology underlying photosynthesis-related traits.

Strong nestedness and turnover effects on stand productivity in a long-term forest biodiversity experiment.

Multispecies planting is an important approach to deliver ecosystem functions in afforestation projects. However, the importance of species richness vs specific species composition in this context remains unresolved. To estimate species or functional group richness and compositional change between two communities, we calculated nestedness, where one community contains a subset of the species of another, and turnover, where two communities differ in species composition but not in species richness.

High photosynthesis rates in Brassiceae species are mediated by leaf anatomy enabling high biochemical capacity, rapid CO diffusion and efficient light use.

Certain species in the Brassicaceae family exhibit high photosynthesis rates, potentially providing a valuable route toward improving agricultural productivity. However, factors contributing to their high photosynthesis rates are still unknown. We compared Hirschfeldia incana, Brassica nigra, Brassica rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana, grown under two contrasting light intensities.

Wheat genetic resources have avoided disease pandemics, improved food security, and reduced environmental footprints: A review of historical impacts and future opportunities.

The use of plant genetic resources (PGR)-wild relatives, landraces, and isolated breeding gene pools-has had substantial impacts on wheat breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, while increasing nutritional value, end-use quality, and grain yield. In the Global South, post-Green Revolution genetic yield gains are generally achieved with minimal additional inputs. As a result, production has increased, and millions of hectares of natural ecosystems have been spared.

The genome of Eleocharis vivipara elucidates the genetics of C-C photosynthetic plasticity and karyotype evolution in the Cyperaceae.

Eleocharis vivipara, an amphibious sedge in the Cyperaceae family, has several remarkable properties, most notably its alternate use of C photosynthesis underwater and C photosynthesis on land. However, the absence of genomic data has hindered its utility for evolutionary and genetic research. Here, we present a high-quality genome for E.

Source-sink relationships during grain filling in wheat in response to various temperature, water deficit, and nitrogen deficit regimes.

Grain filling is a critical process for improving crop production under adverse conditions caused by climate change. Here, using a quantitative method, we quantified post-anthesis source-sink relationships of a large dataset to assess the contribution of remobilized pre-anthesis assimilates to grain growth for both biomass and nitrogen. The dataset came from 13 years of semi-controlled field experimentation, in which six bread wheat genotypes were grown at plot scale under contrasting temperature, water, and nitrogen regimes.

Root plasticity improves maize nitrogen use when nitrogen is limiting: an analysis using 3D plant modelling.

Plant phenotypic plasticity plays an important role in nitrogen (N) acquisition and use under nitrogen-limited conditions. However, this role has never been quantified as a function of N availability, leaving it unclear whether plastic responses should be considered as potential targets for selection. A combined modelling and experimentation approach was adopted to quantify the role of plasticity in N uptake and plant yield.

Far-red light effects on plant photosynthesis: from short-term enhancements to long-term effects of artificial solar light.

Background And Aims: Long-term exposure over several days to Far-Red (FR) increases leaf expansion, while short-term exposure (minutes) may enhance the PSII operating efficiency (ϕPSII). The interaction between these responses at different time scales, and their impact on photosynthesis at whole-plant level is not well understood. Our study aimed to assess the effects of FR in an irradiance mimicking the spectrum of sunlight (referred to as artificial solar irradiance) both in the long and short-term, on whole-plant CO2 assimilation rates and in leaves at different positions in the plant.

Shining light on diurnal variation of non-photochemical quenching: Impact of gradual light intensity patterns on short-term NPQ over a day.

Maximal sunlight intensity varies diurnally due to the earth's rotation. Whether this slow diurnal pattern influences the photoprotective capacity of plants throughout the day is unknown. We investigated diurnal variation in NPQ, along with NPQ capacity, induction, and relaxation kinetics after transitions to high light, in tomato plants grown under diurnal parabolic (DP) or constant (DC) light intensity regimes.

The functional diversity-productivity relationship of woody plants is climatically sensitive.

Plot-scale experiments indicate that functional diversity (FD) plays a pivotal role in sustaining ecosystem functions such as net primary productivity (NPP). However, the relationships between functional diversity and NPP across larger scale under varying climatic conditions are sparsely studied, despite its significance for understanding forest-atmosphere interactions and informing policy development. Hence, we examine the relationships of community-weighted mean (CWM) and functional dispersion (FDis) of woody plant traits on NPP across China and if such relationships are modulated by climatic conditions at the national scale.

Plant and soil responses to tillage practices change arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi populations during crop growth.

Background: Tillage practices can substantially affect soil properties depending on crop stage. The interaction between tillage and crop growth on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities remains unclear. We investigated the interactions between four tillage treatments (CT: conventional tillage, RT: reduced tillage, NT: no tillage with mulch, and SS: subsoiling with mulch), maintained for 25 years, and two wheat growth stages (elongation stage and grain filling stage) on AMF diversity and community composition.

Tools for Measuring Photosynthesis at Different Scales.

Measurements of in vivo photosynthesis are powerful tools that probe the largest fluxes of carbon and energy in an illuminated leaf, but often the specific techniques used are so varied and specialized that it is difficult for researchers outside the field to select and perform the most useful assays for their research questions. The goal of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of the current tools available for the study of photosynthesis, both in vivo and in vitro, so as to provide a foundation for selecting appropriate techniques, many of which are presented in detail in subsequent chapters. This chapter will also organize current methods into a comparative framework and provide examples of how they have been applied to research questions of broad agronomical, ecological, or biological importance.

Interactive Effects of Temperature, Water Regime, and [CO] on Wheats with Different Heat Susceptibilities.

Plants' response to single environmental changes can be highly distinct from the response to multiple changes. The effects of a single environmental factor on wheat growth have been well documented. However, the interactive influences of multiple factors on different wheat genotypes need further investigation.

Survey data on livelihoods and inputs and outputs of crop production in Quzhou county on the North China Plain.

Farmers' decisions on crop choice, management practices, and livelihood strategies are essential to agricultural sustainability. This data article describes three datasets on crop production in Quzhou, a county in the central part of North China Plain. The three datasets cover different scales.

Roles for leakiness and O evolution in explaining lower-than-theoretical quantum yields of photosynthesis in the PEP-CK subtype of C plants.

Theoretically, the PEP-CK C subtype has a higher quantum yield of CO assimilation ( ) than NADP-ME or NAD-ME subtypes because ATP required for operating the CO-concentrating mechanism is believed to mostly come from the mitochondrial electron transport chain (mETC). However, reported is not higher in PEP-CK than in the other subtypes. We hypothesise, more photorespiration, associated with higher leakiness and O evolution in bundle-sheath (BS) cells, cancels out energetic advantages in PEP-CK species.

A guide to photosynthetic gas exchange measurements: Fundamental principles, best practice and potential pitfalls.

Gas exchange measurements enable mechanistic insights into the processes that underpin carbon and water fluxes in plant leaves which in turn inform understanding of related processes at a range of scales from individual cells to entire ecosytems. Given the importance of photosynthesis for the global climate discussion it is important to (a) foster a basic understanding of the fundamental principles underpinning the experimental methods used by the broad community, and (b) ensure best practice and correct data interpretation within the research community. In this review, we outline the biochemical and biophysical parameters of photosynthesis that can be investigated with gas exchange measurements and we provide step-by-step guidance on how to reliably measure them.

Quantifying differences in plant architectural development between hybrid potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants grown from two types of propagules.

Background And Aims: Plants can propagate generatively and vegetatively. The type of propagation and the resulting propagule can influence the growth of the plants, such as plant architectural development and pattern of biomass allocation. Potato is a species that can reproduce through both types of propagation: through true botanical seeds and seed tubers.

Fertilization benefits the facultative parasitic plant Rhamphicarpa fistulosa while gains by the infected host Oryza sativa are marginalized.

Background And Aims: Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Hochst.) Benth. is an annual facultative parasitic plant adapted to hydromorphic soils.