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Photosynthate Partitioning

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Plant Developmental Biology - Biotechnological Perspectives

Abstract

Photosynthate that is produced in a plant’s mature leaves has many uses within the leaf and is also exported as sucrose to non-photosynthetic ‘sink’ organs. The decision-making process that determines how much carbon is allocated to each use is called photosynthate or carbon partitioning. Once it arrives at a sink, the photosynthate is partitioned again for use as an energy source, or to enable growth to occur, or for storage in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and oils. This has considerable impact on the yield of the crop, its nutritional value and its processing properties. Photosynthate partitioning also affects the efficiency of carbon fixation and may become suboptimal in plants because of rapidly changing carbon dioxide levels. It is, therefore, a key target for breeders and biotechnologists. Here, the mechanisms by which photosynthate partitioning is determined are reviewed, including sugar sensing and the action of key metabolic regulators, namely sucrose nonfermenting-1-related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1), hexokinase and components of the trehalose biosynthesis pathway. The importance of the carbon to nitrogen (C:N) balance as a biotechnological target with broad applications, including biofuel production, is discussed and the need to consider metabolic regulation in metabolic engineering programmes is highlighted.

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Acknowledgements

Rothamsted Research receives grant-aided support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Science Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK

    N. G. Halford

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  1. N. G. Halford
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Correspondence to N. G. Halford .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New Era College, Jalan Bukit, Kajang, 43000, Malaysia

    Eng Chong Pua

  2. Dept. Plant Sciences Division, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, United Kingdom

    Michael R. Davey

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Halford, N.G. (2010). Photosynthate Partitioning. In: Pua, E., Davey, M. (eds) Plant Developmental Biology - Biotechnological Perspectives. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04670-4_4

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