Plants are factories that manufacture yield from light and carbon dioxide -- but parts of this complex process, called photosynthesis, are hindered by a lack of raw materials and machinery. Because C 2 plants suffer less net carbon loss from photorespiration, engineering C 2 photosynthesis into C 3 crops could therefore have a large impact on crop production. Plant biologists have bumped up crop productivity by increasing the expression of genes that result in more efficient use of light in photosynthesis, a finding that could be used to help address the world’s future food needs. Its efficiency is considered a key determinant of crop productivity. This research program, known as Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency or RIPE, is being led by the University of Illinois. Any new technology licensed from this work will be made freely available to farmers in poor countries in Africa and South Asia. and performance in a crop context. Half of crop photosynthesis occurs in the shade, so any improvement in speeding up recovery from photoprotection could have a big benefit, the researchers said. Photosynthesis is an important biochemical reaction that forms the basis of all food chains. Overall, canopy architecture significantly affected canopy photosynthetic efficiency and water-use efficiency, suggesting that optimizing canopy structures can contribute to yield enhancement in crops. In rice plants, the flag leaf is the last to emerge, indicating the transition from crop growth to grain production. "It is a powerful tool to assess and guide photosynthetic manipulations and unravel effects that confound the relationship between photosynthetic efficiency and crop performance, "he said. ANRV410-PP61-11 ARI 8 April 2010 0:47 Improving Photosynthetic Efficiency for Greater Yield Xin-Guang Zhu,1,2,3 Stephen P. Long,3,4 and Donald R. Ort3,4,5 1CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, SIBS, Shanghai, China 200031 2Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, SIBS, Shanghai, China 200032 3Institute of Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, … "Photosynthetic hacks can boost crop yield, conserve water." More importantly, this study showed up to a 27 percent increase in crop growth in field trials, which is the true test of any crop improvement -- demonstrating that these photosynthetic hacks can boost crop production in real-world growing conditions. Therefore, improving photosynthetic efficiency has been a focus of intensive research. The photosynthetic efficiency in most crops is less than 2% and even a small increase in this has potential to improve biomass and yield. “Tobacco was used as the model crop plant in this study because it is easy to work with, but we’re working to make the same modifications in rice and other food crops,” said co-senior author Krishna Niyogi, a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. Here’s to a 2021 where CHC eventually won’t have to exist because…, a new method to rapidly test gene expression. Therefore, in this study, the relationship between water, crop production, photosynthesis, crop transpiration, crop growth, crop yields and water use efficiency have been discussed under limited irrigation conditions. Scientists have found how to relieve a bottleneck in the process by which plants transform sunlight into food, which may lead to an increase in crop production. A factory's productivity decreases when supplies, transportation channels, and reliable machinery are limited. The urgent need to achieve large improvements in crop photosynthetic efficiency has consequently catalyzed rapid recent progress in the use of synthetic biology as an approach to overcome the limitations of C 3 photosynthesis. Photosynthesis can be described by the simplified chemical reaction 6 H 2 O + 6 CO 2 + energy → C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 O 2. where C 6 H 12 O 6 is glucose (which is subsequently transformed into other sugars, cellulose, lignin, and so forth). Tobacco leaves showing transient overexpression of genes involved in nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ), a system that protects plants from light damage. Stimulating photosynthetic processes increases productivity and water-use efficiency in the field. One strategy to improve photosynthetic yields is to replace a crop plant’s rubisco with a faster enzyme along with a carbon-concentrating mechanism. "This study provides the exciting opportunity to potentially combine three confirmed and independent methods of achieving 20 percent increases in crop productivity," said RIPE Director Stephen Long, Ikenberry Endowed University Chair of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois. It is not intended to provide medical or other professional advice. Inside chloroplasts, plants have a system called NPQ, or nonphotochemical quenching, for this purpose. Demand for food and fuel is steadily increasing, while gains in the yield of many major food crops through traditional breeding and natural variation have leveled. Photosynthesis is the primary determinant of crop yield, and the efficiency by which a crop captures light and converts it into biomass over the growing season is a key determinant of final yield, be that biomass or grain (et al., 2006Long ). The photosynthetic engine can’t work as efficiently.”. Nature Plants. The flag leaf is the last to emerge, indicating the transition from crop growth to grain production. Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) aims to improve photosynthesis to equip farmers worldwide with higher-yielding crops to ensure everyone has enough food to lead a … Introduction Plants greatly … "Photosynthetic hacks can boost crop yield, conserve water." “My attitude is that it is very important to have these new technologies on the shelf now because it can take 20 years before such inventions can reach farmer’s fields,” said Long. Therefore, improving photosynthetic efficiency has been a focus of intensive research. In photosynthesis, plants use the energy in sunlight to take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into biomass, which we use for food, fuel, and fiber. By adding "cellular forklifts" to shuttle electrons into the photosystems and "cellular machinery" for the Calvin Cycle, the team also improved the crop's water-use efficiency, or the ratio of biomass produced to water lost by the plant. Photosynthesis and crop yield Photosynthesis is the primary determinant of crop yield, and the efficiency by which a crop captures light and converts it into biomass over the growing season is a key determinant of final yield, be that biomass or grain (Long et al., 2006). “The molecular processes we’re modifying are fundamental to plants that carry out photosynthesis, so we hope to see a similar increase in yield in other crops.”. Maureen R. Hanson, Molecular Biology and Genetics, is focusing on an enzyme that limits the efficiency of ScienceDaily, 10 August 2020. efficiency of photosynthesis can be optimised by modifying the size of the photosynthetic light-harvesting antenna complex. As a potential solution, researchers are applying synthetic biology to improve photosynthesis. Photosynthesis in this leaf provides the majority of The flag leaf is the last to emerge, indicating the transition from crop growth to grain production. April 24, 2020. To optimize production, scientists from the University of Essex have resolved two major photosynthetic bottlenecks to boost plant productivity by 27 percent in real-world field conditions, according to a new study published in Nature Plants. Stimulating photosynthetic processes increases productivity and water-use efficiency in the field (Nature Plants) August 21, 2020 / in Plant Science Research Weekly / by Camila Ribeiro Yield potential in crops is determined by the efficiency of photosynthetic rates, which is a critical target for improvement. Learn how students,… https://t.co/3IDG0g6Voi, Graduate student Rosalie Z. Fanshel and professor Alastair Iles collaborated on a recent project to map and improve… https://t.co/RzWazIEuHS, RT @cHumanityc: Hand sanitizer for 130,00 people and still going strong. The flag leaf is the last to emerge, indicating the transition from crop growth to grain production. In higher plants, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), the fraction of sunlight with wavelengths from 400 to 700 nm is harvested by the photosynthetic pigments of photosystems PSI and PSII. The researchers described their findings in a paper published today in the journal Science. A transport protein called plastocyanin moves electrons into the photosystem to fuel this process. To find out what limits photosynthesis, researchers have modeled each of the 170 steps of this process to identify how plants could manufacture sugars more efficiently. This international research project is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the U.K. Government's Department for International Development (DFID). Photosynthetic capacity and efficiency are bottlenecks to raising productivity and there is strong evidence that increasing photosynthesis will increase crop yields provided that other constraints do … This means that it may be possible to mix and match the regulatory components of light harvesting from different clades of photosynthetic organisms to fine-tune the efficiency of photosynthesis.” The researchers said the CVDE enzyme could be used to optimize photoprotection and thereby improve photosynthesis and crop productivity. RIPE is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the U.K. Government's Department for International Development (DFID). Light attenuation is an important aspect that influences the overall photosynthetic rate and the accumulation of biomass of plants, particularly cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.).Thus light quality and light duration play an important role in the productivity of cotton. "Like a factory line, plants are only as fast as their slowest machines," said Patricia Lopez-Calcagno, a postdoctoral researcher at Essex, who led this work for the RIPE project. Yet these advances have not resulted from improving the photosynthetic process per se but rather of altering the way carbon is partitioned within the plant. RIPE is led by the University of Illinois in partnership with The Australian National University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Lancaster University, Louisiana State University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Essex, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Modern Farmer: Scientists may found a way to increase crop yield by a bonkers 20% Smithsonian Magazine: New technique could supercharge crop production Popular Science: Scientists tweak plant genes to enhance photosynthesis and increase crop yields Peoria Public Radio (WCBU 89.9): Genetically Modifying Photosynthesis Can … The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that food production will need to nearly double by 2050 to meet increasing demand. By increasing the expression of those genes, the scientists saw increases of 14-20 percent in the productivity of modified tobacco plants in field experiments. In rice plants, the flag leaf is the last to emerge, indicating the transition from crop growth to grain production. Whether this greater photosynthetic efficiency during shading events would affect productivity was evaluated under field conditions in a randomized block … Photosynthesis is the basis of plant growth, and improving photosynthesis can contribute toward greater food security in the coming decades as world population increases. Crop production is strongly dependent on the photosynthetic rates. Or view hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader: Keep up to date with the latest news from ScienceDaily via social networks: Tell us what you think of ScienceDaily -- we welcome both positive and negative comments. Thus, solar-to-biomass energy conversion efficiency and photosynthetic productivity in high-density cultures can be increased. (2020, August 10). Niyogi and his postdoctoral research associates Lauriebeth Leonelli, Stéphane Gabilly, and Masakazu Iwai figured out a way to speed up recovery from photoprotection and demonstrated a proof of this concept in the laboratory. Next, the team plans to translate these discoveries from tobacco -- a model crop used in this study as a test-bed for genetic improvements because it is easy to engineer, grow, and test -- to staple food crops such as cassava, cowpea, maize, soybean and rice that are needed to feed our growing population this century. Crop production is strongly dependent on the photosynthetic rates. Multiple targets have been identified that could be manipulated to increase crop photosynthesis. Patricia E. López-Calcagno, Kenny L. Brown, Andrew J. Simkin, Stuart J. Fisk, Silvere Vialet-Chabrand, Tracy Lawson, and Christine A. Raines. They discovered that producing more of a protein that controls the rate in which electrons flow during photosynthesis, accelerates the whole process. This review attempts to develop a mechanistic understanding of the effects of N on crop biomass accumulation by elucidating quantitative relationships among leaf N content, CO 2 assimilation rate, and crop radiation use efficiency. In this study, the team increased crop growth by 27 percent by resolving two constraints: one in the first part of photosynthesis where plants transform light energy into chemical energy and one in the second part where carbon dioxide is fixed into sugars. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily, its staff, its contributors, or its partners. Materials provided by Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Saturday, January 9 2021 Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The work to boost crop productivity comes as concerns about food shortages rise with the world’s population. Here, we explore an array of prospective redesigns of plant systems at various scales, all aimed at increasing crop yields through improved photosynthetic efficiency and performance. Vertical farming: environmental control, light analysis and phytochemical production 3. Photosynthesis is the basis of primary productivity on the planet. “We discovered 20 years ago that red algae can produce more efficient versions of Rubisco than Plant biologists have bumped up crop productivity by increasing the expression of genes that result in more efficient use of light in photosynthesis, a finding that could be used to help address the world’s future food needs. Yields of the world’s major staple crops have not been increasing fast enough to meet this projected need. “NPQ turns on and gets rid of the excess energy safely. “If we don’t do it now, we won’t have this solution when we need it.”. The RIPE project is an international effort led by the University of Illinois to develop more productive crops by improving photosynthesis -- the natural, sunlight-powered process that all plants use to fix carbon dioxide into sugars that fuel growth, development, and ultimately yield. NFs can improve the nutrient use efficiency about threefolds and improve the crop productivity by promoting seed germination, seedling growth, nitrogen metabolism, photosynthetic activity, protein synthesis, antioxidant defense, etc. Photosynthetic capacity and efficiency are bottlenecks to raising productivity and there is strong evidence that increasing photosynthesis will increase crop yields provided that other constraints do … Photosynthetic hacks can boost crop yield, conserve water. NPQ turns off, but not quickly enough. The photosynthetic efficiency is the fraction of light energy converted into chemical energy during photosynthesis in green plants and algae. Photosynthesis is directly related to plant growth and crop production and any fluctuation in the photosynthetic activity imposes great threat to crop productivity. The team at Dr Sayre’s lab has also produced several studies that suggest that capturing CO 2 by algae Financial support for ScienceDaily comes from advertisements and referral programs, where indicated. The team found crop yield changes ranged from a reduction of one per cent to a 12 per cent increase, depending on the combination of photosynthetic targets, the crop … Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Keywords: Photosynthesis efficiency, abiotic stress, biotic stress, climate change, Multiple Stress Conditions, Crop productivity Important Note : All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they … Its efficiency is considered a key determinant of crop productivity. RIPE's first discovery, published in Science, helped plants adapt to changing light conditions to increase yields by as much as 20 percent. When there is too much sunlight, the photosynthetic machinery in chloroplasts can be damaged, so plants need photoprotection. However, the crops have some ability to adapt and resist against limited irrigation. To capitalize on these advantages, attempts have been made to engineer the C 4 pathway into C 3 rice (Oryza sativa). It’s like having a leak in the system with the valve left open. RIPE aims to increase agricultural production worldwide, particularly to help reduce hunger and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia by sustainably improving the yield of key food crops including soybeans, rice, … Red and yellow regions represent low NPQ activity, while blue and purple areas show high levels induced by exposure to light. Scientists engineered plants with a photosynthesis “shortcut” to increase crop production by up to 40%, according to a research article published in Science journal. Questions? Greenhouse crop production: canopy photosynthesis, growth modelling, and spectrum conversion film 2. In higher plants, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), the fraction of sunlight with wavelengths from 400 to 700 nm is harvested by the photosynthetic pigments of photosystems PSI and PSII. Plants contain the green pigment chlorophyll and they require light energy from the sun to photosynthesize and to grow. By boosting the expression of three genes involved in NPQ, they showed that NPQ turned off more quickly, and the efficiency of photosynthesis in the shade was higher. “When there is too much sunlight, it’s like pressure building up,” said Niyogi. The highly variable levels of light plants receive, particularly in densely planted crop fields, presents a challenge to the efficient use of solar energy. Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is a translational research project that is genetically engineering plants to photosynthesize more efficiently to increase crop yields. For 50 years scientists have striven to boost the activity of Rubisco, a promising target to increase crop production, as it controls how much and how fast plants fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into sugars and energy during photosynthesis. Plastocyanin requires copper and cytochrome requires iron to function. Photosynthesis in this leaf provides the majority of The flag leaf is the last to emerge, indicating the transition from crop growth to grain production. Plants must adapt to intermittent shading from leaves that are higher in the canopy, or from passing clouds. Patricia E. López-Calcagno, Kenny L. Brown, Andrew J. Simkin, Stuart J. Fisk, Silvere Vialet-Chabrand, Tracy Lawson, and Christine A. Raines. The EC-funded project GAIN4CROPS is developing novel disruptive technologies to overcome one of the main constraints on photosynthetic efficiency: photorespiration, a process that reduces CO2 assimilation efficiency, and thus biomass yield and agricultural productivity. ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the. Users can select specific wavelengths to elicit targeted photomorphogenic, ... McCree KJ (1972) The action spectrum absorptance and quantum yield of photosynthesis in crop plants. A team of scientists from the University of Essex has boosted crop productivity by 27 percent by resolving two bottlenecks in photosynthesis–the process whereby plants fix carbon dioxide into the sugars that fuel crop growth. Due to the environmental fluctuations plants are often exposed to the different environmental stresses that cause decreased photosynthetic rate and problems in the plant growth and development. The maximum yield attainable from a crop has been termed yield These two improvements, when combined, have been shown to increase crop productivity by 52 percent in the greenhouse. In this work, the TLA concept was applied in high-density tobacco canopies. The team addressed this first bottleneck by helping plastocyanin share the load with the addition of cytochrome c6 -- a more efficient transport protein that has a similar function in algae. ... which would result in higher crop productivity. The optimization of such developmental traits thus has great potential to increase biomass and crop yield. A team of scientists from the University of Essex has boosted crop productivity by 27 percent by resolving two bottlenecks in photosynthesis--the process whereby plants fix … Photosynthetic efficiency is a component of plant productivity. Crop breeding has sustained steady improvements in yield to keep pace with population growth increases. Niyogi, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Division of Molecular Biophysics and Integrative Bioimaging, teamed up with Stephen Long, a plant biology and crop sciences professor at the University of Illinois, for the study. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), UC Berkeley, and the University of Illinois targeted three genes involved in a process plants use to protect themselves from damage when they get more light than they can safely use. European Scientist: Scientists increase crop production by 47%. Illinois postdoctoral researchers Johannes Kromdijk and Katarzyna Glowacka took the trio of genes studied at Berkeley and put them into tobacco plants for further testing in greenhouse and field experiments. However, photosynthetic efficiency remains standing as a determinant of yield potential with the improvement capacity to double crop productivity (1–3, 5, 6). Some limitations and adverse effects of NFs have also been reported. This research was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This establishes the viability of a functional nanomaterial to augment photosynthesis as a route to increased crop productivity. While much has to be done to improve energy efficiency and waste management of agriculture, crop productivity also has to be increased by 70% to feed a human population growing by 34% and estimated to reach 9.1 billion till 2050 . Hanson and her lab are producing vectors that will install a novel cyanobacterial-based, carbon-concentrating mechanism into a chloroplast, and they are providing the necessary molecular machinery to facilitate its operation. Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) aims to improve photosynthesis to equip farmers worldwide with higher-yielding crops to ensure everyone has enough food to lead a healthy, productive life. Keywords: Photosynthesis efficiency, abiotic stress, biotic stress, climate change, Multiple Stress Conditions, Crop productivity Important Note : All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they … Photo contest deadline tonight! Submit photos for our photo contest at https://t.co/NsU070FXst for a chance to win college swag! "The mechanism responsible for this additional improvement is not yet clear, but we are continuing to explore this to help us understand why and how this works.". Photosynthesis is an important biochemical reaction that forms the basis of all food chains. "In our field trials, we discovered that these plants are using less water to make more biomass," said principal investigator Christine Raines, a professor in the School of Life Sciences at Essex where she also serves as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research. 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. A number of plant features and traits, such as overall plant architecture, leaf structure and morphological features, vascular architecture and flowering time are important determinants of photosynthetic efficiency and hence the overall performance of crop plants. Photosynthesis and crop yield Photosynthesis is the primary determinant of crop yield, and the efficiency by which a crop captures light and converts it into biomass over the growing season is a key determinant of final yield, be that biomass or grain (et al., 2006Long ). Raising the water-use efficiency of both irrigated and rain-fed crop production is an urgent imperative (Hamdy et al., 2003).Of the world's allocatable water resource, c. 80% is currently consumed by irrigated agriculture.This level of consumption by agriculture is not sustainable into the future. 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