Can improvement in photosynthesis increase crop yields?
Open accessAbstract
The yield potential ( Y p ) of a grain crop is the seed mass per unit ground area obtained under optimum growing conditions without weeds, pests and diseases. It is determined by the product of the available light energy and by the genetically determined properties: efficiency of light capture ( ɛ i ), the efficiency of conversion of the intercepted light into biomass ( ɛ c ) and the proportion of biomass partitioned into grain ( η ). Plant breeding brings η and ɛ i close to their theoretical maxima, leaving ɛ c , primarily determined by photosynthesis, as the only remaining major prospect for improving Y p . Leaf photosynthetic rate, however, is poorly correlated with yield when different genotypes of a crop species are compared. This led to the viewpoint that improvement of leaf photosynthesis has little value for improving Y p . By contrast, the many recent experiments that compare the growth of a genotype in current and future projected elevated [CO 2 ] environments show that increase in leaf photosynthesis is closely associated with similar increases in yield. Are there opportunities to achieve similar increases by genetic manipulation? Six potential routes of increasing ɛ c by improving photosynthetic efficiency were explored, ranging from altered canopy architecture to improved regeneration of the acceptor molecule for CO 2 . Collectively, these changes could improve ɛ c and, therefore, Y p by c . 50%. Because some changes could be achieved by transgenic technology, the time of the development of commercial cultivars could be considerably less than by conventional breeding and potentially, within 10–15 years.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
At low light levels, leaf photosynthesis in crops such as soybean responds linearly to light intensity, but at approximately 25% of full sunlight, or 500 μmol m-2 s-1 PPFD, the linear relationship between absorbed quanta and Aleaf begins to plateau.
“At low light levels, leaf photosynthesis (Aleaf) in crops such as soybean responds linearly to light intensity, but at approximately 25% of full sunlight, or 500 μmol m-2 s-1 photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), the linear relationship between absorbed quanta and Aleaf begins to plateau (Long et al., 2006).”
From Photosynthesis, Light Use Efficiency, and Yield of Reduced-Chlorophyll Soybean Mutants in Field Conditions (2017) · cites this paper as Long et al., 2006
At full sunlight, leaves below the uppermost 25% receive half or less of the light needed to saturate Aleaf and are therefore light limited.
“Meanwhile, at full sunlight, leaves below the uppermost 25% receive half or less of the light needed to saturate Aleaf and are therefore light limited (Long et al., 2006).”
From Photosynthesis, Light Use Efficiency, and Yield of Reduced-Chlorophyll Soybean Mutants in Field Conditions (2017) · cites this paper as Long et al., 2006
Cites
Climate and the efficiency of crop production in Britain
Monteith, J. L. (1977) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.1977.0140 · Cited by 3,484 · cited 8× · see citing works
“About 30% of the carbohydrate formed in C3 photosynthesis is lost through photorespiration (Monteith 1977).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialHarvest index: a review of its use in plant breeding and crop physiology.
HAY, R. K. M. (1995) · Annals of Applied Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.1995.tb05015.x · Cited by 686 · see citing works
Naidu, S. L., Moose, S. P., AL-Shoaibi, A. K., Raines, C. A., & Long, S. P. (2003) · Plant Physiology · doi:10.1104/pp.103.021790 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Improving photosynthetic efficiency for greater yield.
Zhu, X.-G., Long, S. P., & Ort, D. R. (2010) · Annual Review of Plant Biology · doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-042809-112206 · Cited by 1,902 · see citing works
Self-citationComparing Photosynthetic and Photovoltaic Efficiencies and Recognizing the Potential for Improvement
Blankenship, R. E., Tiede, D. M., Barber, J., Brudvig, G. W., Fleming, G., Ghirardi, M., Gunner, M. R., Junge, W., Kramer, D. M., Melis, A., et al. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1200165 · Cited by 1,638 · see citing works
Self-citationBiomass for a sustainable bioeconomy: An overview of world biomass production and utilization
Antar, M., Lyu, D., Nazari, M., Shah, A., Zhou, X., & Smith, D. L. (2021) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2020.110691 · Cited by 878 · see citing works
Meeting US biofuel goals with less land: the potential of Miscanthus
HEATON, E. A., DOHLEMAN, F. G., & LONG, S. P. (2008) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01662.x · Cited by 886 · see citing works
Self-citationMelis, A. (2009) · Plant Science · doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2009.06.005 · Cited by 796 · see citing works
Constraints to Commercialization of Algal Fuels
Chisti, Y. (2013) · Journal of Biotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2013.07.020 · Cited by 719 · see citing works
Physiological Basis of Successful Breeding Strategies for Maize Grain Yield
Lee, E. A., & Tollenaar, M. (2007) · Crop Science · doi:10.2135/cropsci2007.04.0010ipbs · Cited by 426 · see citing works
Influence of biochar on drought tolerance of Chenopodium quinoa willd and on soil-plant relations
Kammann, C. I., Linsel, S., Gößling, J. W., & Koyro, H.-W. (2011) · Plant and Soil · doi:10.1007/s11104-011-0771-5 · Cited by 425 · see citing works
Optimizing antenna size to maximize photosynthetic efficiency.
Ort, D. R., Zhu, X., (朱新广), & Melis, A. (2011) · Plant Physiology · doi:10.1104/pp.110.165886 · Cited by 338 · see citing works
Self-citationSlattery, R. A., VanLoocke, A., Bernacchi, C. J., Zhu, X.-G., & Ort, D. R. (2017) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.00549 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
“Meanwhile, at full sunlight, leaves below the uppermost 25% receive half or less of the light needed to saturate Aleaf and are therefore light limited (Long et al., 2006).”
BackgroundSelf-citationZHU, X., WANG, Y., ORT, D. R., & LONG, S. P. (2013) · Plant, Cell & Environment · doi:10.1111/pce.12025 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Self-citationNegi, S., Perrine, Z., Friedland, N., Kumar, A., Tokutsu, R., Minagawa, J., Berg, H., Barry, A. N., Govindjee, G., & Sayre, R. (2020) · The Plant Journal · doi:10.1111/tpj.14751 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Drewry, D. T., Kumar, P., & Long, S. P. (2014) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.12567 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Self-citationModelling Crop Improvement in a G×E×M Framework via Gene–Trait–Phenotype Relationships
Messina, C., Hammer, G., Dong, Z., Podlich, D., & Cooper, M. (2009) · Crop Physiology · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-374431-9.00010-4 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Biological reality and parsimony in crop models—why we need both in crop improvement!
Hammer, G., Messina, C., Wu, A., & Cooper, M. (2019) · in silico Plants · doi:10.1093/insilicoplants/diz010 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants: Unraveling the Complexity of Genes and Networks to Survive
Sofia, A., de Almeida, A. M., da Silva, A. B., da Silva, J. M., Paula, A., Santos, D., Fevereiro, P., & Sousa Araujo, S. D. (2013) · Abiotic Stress - Plant Responses and Applications in Agriculture · doi:10.5772/52779 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Global bioenergy capacity as constrained by observed biospheric productivity rates
Smith, W. K., Zhao, M., & Running, S. W. (2012) · BioScience · doi:10.1525/bio.2012.62.10.11 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
- Authors
- LONG, S. P., ZHU, X., NAIDU, S. L., & ORT, D. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Agricultural Research Service (US)
- Corresponding author
- LONG, STEPHEN P.
- Venue
- Plant, Cell & Environment
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-03
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 315-330
- ISSN
- 0140-7791 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-3040
- OpenAlex
- W2108014542
- Cited by
- 1,586
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 75 · 2025: 99 · 2024: 121 · 2023: 108 · 2022: 135 · 2021: 129 · 2020: 109 · 2019: 99 · 2018: 82 · 2017: 85 · 2016: 69 · 2015: 89 · 2014: 63 · 2013: 72 · 2012: 49
- FWCI
- 2.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Plant Cell & Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant responses to elevated CO2
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Crop Yield and Soil Fertility
- Keywords
- photosynthesis, crop yield, yield potential, light use efficiency, carbon conversion efficiency, elevated CO2, genetically modified crops, canopy structure
- MeSH terms
- Carbon Dioxide, Poaceae, Photosynthesis, Ribulosephosphates, Sunlight, Plant Leaves, Biomass
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
