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Photosynthesis research under climate change

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Abstract

Increasing global population and climate change uncertainties have compelled increased photosynthetic efficiency and yields to ensure food security over the coming decades. Potentially, genetic manipulation and minimization of carbon or energy losses can be ideal to boost photosynthetic efficiency or crop productivity. Despite significant efforts, limited success has been achieved. There is a need for thorough improvement in key photosynthetic limiting factors, such as stomatal conductance, mesophyll conductance, biochemical capacity combined with Rubisco, the Calvin–Benson cycle, thylakoid membrane electron transport, nonphotochemical quenching, and carbon metabolism or fixation pathways. In addition, the mechanistic basis for the enhancement in photosynthetic adaptation to environmental variables such as light intensity, temperature and elevated CO2 requires further investigation. This review sheds light on strategies to improve plant photosynthesis by targeting these intrinsic photosynthetic limitations and external environmental factors.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31871570) and Sichuan Innovation Team Project of National Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System (SCCXTD-2020-20) and VEGA-1-0589-19 & APVV-18-0465. And Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production co-sponsored by Province and Ministry (CIC-MCP), the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (14th 5-year New Oil Crops Breeding).

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  1. Sajad Hussain and Zaid Ulhassan have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211-Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu, 611130, People’s Republic of China

    Sajad Hussain, Wenyu Yang & Weiguo Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in Southwest China (Ministry of Agriculture), Sichuan Engineering Research Center for Crop Strip Intercropping System, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China

    Sajad Hussain, Wenyu Yang & Weiguo Liu

  3. Institute of Crop Science, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Laboratory of Spectroscopy Sensing, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China

    Zaid Ulhassan &  Weijun Zhou

  4. Department of Plant Physiology, Slovak University of Agriculture, 94976, Nitra, Slovakia

    Marian Brestic & Marek Zivcak

  5. К.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya St. 35, Moscow, Russia, 127276

    Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev

  6. Department of Plant Physiology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Daizong Road No. 61, 271018, Taian, People’s Republic of China

    Xinghong Yang

  7. College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Punjab, 40100, Pakistan

    Muhammad Ehsan Safdar

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  1. Sajad Hussain
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Hussain, S., Ulhassan, Z., Brestic, M. et al. Photosynthesis research under climate change. Photosynth Res 150, 5–19 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-021-00861-z

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