Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, 1206 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Institute of Plant Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Ulica Strzeszyńska 34, 60-479 Poznań, Poland.
Science. 2016 Nov 18;354(6314):857-861. doi: 10.1126/science.aai8878.
Crop leaves in full sunlight dissipate damaging excess absorbed light energy as heat. When sunlit leaves are shaded by clouds or other leaves, this protective dissipation continues for many minutes and reduces photosynthesis. Calculations have shown that this could cost field crops up to 20% of their potential yield. Here, we describe the bioengineering of an accelerated response to natural shading events in Nicotiana (tobacco), resulting in increased leaf carbon dioxide uptake and plant dry matter productivity by about 15% in fluctuating light. Because the photoprotective mechanism that has been altered is common to all flowering plants and crops, the findings provide proof of concept for a route to obtaining a sustainable increase in productivity for food crops and a much-needed yield jump.
在阳光充足的情况下，作物叶片会将多余的吸收光能量以热能的形式散发出去。当被阳光照射的叶片被云层或其他叶片遮挡时，这种保护性的耗散会持续数分钟，从而降低光合作用。计算表明，这可能使田间作物的潜在产量损失高达 20%。在这里，我们描述了对烟草中自然遮荫事件的快速响应的生物工程改造，从而在波动的光照下使叶片二氧化碳吸收和植物干物质生产力提高约 15%。因为被改变的光保护机制是所有开花植物和作物共有的，所以这些发现为获得粮食作物可持续生产力提高和急需的产量突破提供了概念验证。
