Author
Ort, Donald | |
BAKKER, NEIL - BIOLOGICAL SCI U/ESSEX UK |
Submitted to: Current Opinion in Plant Biology
Publication Type: Review Article Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2002 Publication Date: 12/20/2003 Citation: Current Opinion Plant Biology. 2002. v. 5. p. 193-198. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: While photodamage has been documented in crops grown outside of their ancestral geographic range, the vast majority of plants in native habitats and even most crops under cultivation deal successfully with excess light avoiding photodamage even under daunting environmental challenges. Photoprotection is a complex process that includes the regulated thermal dissipation of absorbed light, intricate pathways to detoxify photosynthetically produced reactive molecules, as well as a variety of repair processes to prevent the accumulation of photodamage. However, the importance of an array of alternative electron sinks to utilize excess absorbed light when CO2 is limiting is now becoming recognized and is clearly a keystone of photoprotection. There is a great deal of importance that is not yet understood about the mechanism and identity of these acceptors but the recent emergence of molecular genetic approaches promise rapid and exciting progress. |