Photosynthesis in a changing global climate: scaling up and scaling down

Authors: BASLAM, MAROUANE - Niigata University; MITSUI, TOSHIAKI - Niigata University; HODGES, MICHAEL - University Of Paris-Sud; PRIESACK, ECKART - Helmholtz Centre; Herritt, Matthew; ARANJUELO, IKER - Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); SANZ-SAEZ, ALVARO - Auburn University

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/29/2020
Publication Date: 7/6/2020
Citation: Baslam, M., Mitsui, T., Hodges, M., Priesack, E., Herritt, M.T., Aranjuelo, I., Sanz-Saez, A. 2020. Photosynthesis in a changing global climate: scaling up and scaling down. Frontiers in Plant Science. 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00882.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00882

Interpretive Summary: Virtually all biomass and oxygen on the planet comes from photosynthesis. Throughout the past few decades, numerous multidisciplinary studies have been undertaken to better understand photosynthesis to increase crop growth and production under different environmental conditions. Additionally, over the past few decades variable phenotypic/genotypic response to abiotic stress have been leveraged to better understand crop response to abiotic stresses. Despite these efforts our understanding of the mechanisms regulating abiotic stress responses is incomplete. The current manuscript aims to analyze current understanding of changing environmental conditions on performance of photosynthesis and plant growth, from a multi-perspective approach.

Technical Abstract: Photosynthesis is the central process of all primary production in the Biosphere. From photosynthesis comes virtually all the biomass of the planet, all the oxygen in the atmosphere, and all the fossil fuel, which remains to this day, the main energy source. There is a total of 7000bn tons of [CO2] in the atmosphere and photosynthesis fixes more than 100bn tons annually (' 15%). The CO2 assimilated by the photosynthetic apparatus is the basis of the production of crops and, therefore, of all animal and human food. Throughout the last decades, numerous multidisciplinary studies (in the areas of agriculture, physiology, biotechnology, molecular biology, genomics, modeling, etc.) encourage the interest of the in-depth study of the photosynthetic apparatus as a tool to increase the growth and production of plants under different environmental conditions. Photosynthesis is conditioned by the effect of environmental variables (water availability, temperature, [CO2], salinity, ozone, etc.) on the diffusion of CO2 through the leaf and/or biochemical processes within it. Although it is generally accepted that stomatal closure is a target factor limiting photosynthetic activity under moderate stress conditions, when stress is more severe, it has been found that metabolic deterioration occurs. Moreover, in the last decades, variable phenotypic/genotypic response to abiotic stress has been identified as target(s) to improve crop response to stress and as a tool to better understand the genetic mechanisms regulating that response. However, despite its importance, our current understanding of the mechanisms and regulation of the photosynthetic process together with the use of novel plant phenotyping technologies is likely incomplete, specifically under abiotic stress conditions. The current manuscript aims to analyze, from a multi-perspective approach (ranging from breeding, gas exchange, genomics, etc.) the impact of changing environmental conditions on performance of photosynthetic apparatus and consequently plant growth.