Improving photosynthesis and yield potential in cereal crops by targeted genetic manipulation: Prospects, progress and challenges

Furbank, Robert T.; Quick, W. Paul; Sirault, Xavier

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2015.04.009

Cited by 95 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…). They may also include improving other aspects of photosynthesis such as light capture, CO 2 diffusion into the chloroplast (Furbank et al ., ) and flux through the Calvin cycle (Lefebvre et al ., ). Improvement in the catalytic properties of Rubisco has been suggested as one of the most energetically effective approaches for improving photosynthesis (Long et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering chloroplasts to improve Rubisco catalysis: prospects for translating improvements into food and fiber crops

2016

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494I.495II.496III.496IV.499V.499VI.501VII.501VIII.502IX.505X.506507References507 Summary The uncertainty of future climate change is placing pressure on cropping systems to continue to provide stable increases in productive yields. To mitigate future climates and the increasing threats against global food security, new solutions to manipulate photosynthesis are required. This review explores the current efforts available to improve carbon assimilation within plant chloroplasts by engineering Rubisco, which catalyzes the rate‐limiting step of CO2 fixation. Fixation of CO2 and subsequent cycling of 3‐phosphoglycerate through the Calvin cycle provides the necessary carbohydrate building blocks for maintaining plant growth and yield, but has to compete with Rubisco oxygenation, which results in photorespiration that is energetically wasteful for plants. Engineering improvements in Rubisco is a complex challenge and requires an understanding of chloroplast gene regulatory pathways, and the intricate nature of Rubisco catalysis and biogenesis, to transplant more efficient forms of Rubisco into crops. In recent times, major advances in Rubisco engineering have been achieved through improvement of our knowledge of Rubisco synthesis and assembly, and identifying amino acid catalytic switches in the L‐subunit responsible for improvements in catalysis. Improving the capacity of CO2 fixation in crops such as rice will require further advances in chloroplast bioengineering and Rubisco biogenesis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering chloroplasts to improve Rubisco catalysis: prospects for translating improvements into food and fiber crops

2016

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“…For further details refer to the text social networks to improve farm productivity, as well as examining how they combine agricultural livelihoods with nonagricultural work to improve food security (Arndt et al 2016) Research in Crop Production and Harvesting has traditionally been confined to the study of the physiology and genetics of crop plants, establishing new crop varieties, discovering new agrichemicals and devising improved agronomic methods. There is a continued need for such research, and there are global initiatives aimed at delivering increases in yield potential of the major cereal crops (Murchie et al 2009;Furbank et al 2015). Similarly, reducing the yield gap is an active research target since many crop yields have reached a plateau or are even decreasing (Foley et al 2011).…”

Section: Environmental and Socio-economic Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An agenda for integrated system-wide interdisciplinary agri-food research

et al. 2017

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This paper outlines the development of an integrated interdisciplinary approach to agri-food research, designed to address the 'grand challenge' of global food security. Rather than meeting this challenge by working in separate domains or via single-disciplinary perspectives, we chart the development of a system-wide approach to the food supply chain. In this approach, social and environmental questions are simultaneously addressed. Firstly, we provide a holistic model of the agri-food system, which depicts the processes involved, the principal inputs and outputs, the actors and the external influences, emphasising the system's interactions, feedbacks and complexities. Secondly, we show how this model necessitates a research programme that includes the study of land-use, crop production and protection, food processing, storage and distribution, retailing and consumption, nutrition and public health. Acknowledging the methodological and epistemological challenges involved in developing this approach, we propose two specific ways forward. Firstly, we propose a method for analysing and modelling agri-food systems in their totality, which enables the complexity to be reduced to essential components of the whole system to allow tractable quantitative analysis using LCA and related methods. This initial analysis allows for more detailed quantification of total system resource efficiency, environmental impact and waste. Secondly, we propose a method to analyse the ethical, legal and political tensions that characterise such systems via the use of deliberative fora. We conclude by proposing an agenda for agri-food research which combines these two approaches into a rational programme for identifying, testing and implementing the new agri-technologies and agri-food policies, advocating the critical application of nexus thinking to meet the global food security challenge.

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“…Breeders have substantially improved TE by selecting plants with more efficient photosynthesis or higher allocation of photosynthates to harvested organs (6). Another way to improve TE is to decrease the amount of water lost by transpiration.…”

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confidence: 99%

Reduced nighttime transpiration is a relevant breeding target for high water-use efficiency in grapevine

Coupel‐Ledru

Lebon

Christophe

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

124

101

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Increasing water scarcity challenges crop sustainability in many regions. As a consequence, the enhancement of transpiration efficiency (TE)-that is, the biomass produced per unit of water transpired-has become crucial in breeding programs. This could be achieved by reducing plant transpiration through a better closure of the stomatal pores at the leaf surface. However, this strategy generally also lowers growth, as stomatal opening is necessary for the capture of atmospheric CO 2 that feeds daytime photosynthesis. Here, we considered the reduction in transpiration rate at night (E n ) as a possible strategy to limit water use without altering growth. For this purpose, we carried out a genetic analysis for E n and TE in grapevine, a major crop in drought-prone areas. Using recently developed phenotyping facilities, potted plants of a cross between Syrah and Grenache cultivars were screened for 2 y under well-watered and moderate soil water deficit scenarios. High genetic variability was found for E n under both scenarios and was primarily associated with residual diffusion through the stomata. Five quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected that underlay genetic variability in E n . Interestingly, four of them colocalized with QTLs for TE. Moreover, genotypes with favorable alleles on these common QTLs exhibited reduced E n without altered growth. These results demonstrate the interest of breeding grapevine for lower water loss at night and pave the way to breeding other crops with this underexploited trait for higher TE.night transpiration | transpiration efficiency | growth | stomata | QTL

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Improving photosynthesis and yield potential in cereal crops by targeted genetic manipulation: Prospects, progress and challenges

Cited by 95 publications

References 97 publications

Engineering chloroplasts to improve Rubisco catalysis: prospects for translating improvements into food and fiber crops

Engineering chloroplasts to improve Rubisco catalysis: prospects for translating improvements into food and fiber crops

An agenda for integrated system-wide interdisciplinary agri-food research

Reduced nighttime transpiration is a relevant breeding target for high water-use efficiency in grapevine

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