Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam, Germany.
Plant Breeding, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Nat Plants. 2020 Feb;6(2):55-66. doi: 10.1038/s41477-020-0590-x. Epub 2020 Feb 10.
Plants have evolved a multitude of strategies to adjust their growth according to external and internal signals. Interconnected metabolic and phytohormonal signalling networks allow adaption to changing environmental and developmental conditions and ensure the survival of species in fluctuating environments. In agricultural ecosystems, many of these adaptive responses are not required or may even limit crop yield, as they prevent plants from realizing their fullest potential. By lifting source and sink activities to their maximum, massive yield increases can be foreseen, potentially closing the future yield gap resulting from an increasing world population and the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. To do so, a better understanding of the interplay between metabolic and developmental processes is required. In the past, these processes have been tackled independently from each other, but coordinated efforts are required to understand the fine mechanics of source-sink relations and thus optimize crop yield. Here, we describe approaches to design high-yielding crop plants utilizing strategies derived from current metabolic concepts and our understanding of the molecular processes determining sink development.
植物已经进化出多种策略来根据外部和内部信号来调节生长。相互关联的代谢和植物激素信号网络允许适应不断变化的环境和发育条件，并确保物种在波动的环境中生存。在农业生态系统中，许多这些适应性反应是不需要的，甚至可能限制作物产量，因为它们阻止植物充分发挥潜力。通过将源和汇的活动提升到最大，可以预见大规模的产量增加，从而有可能弥补由于世界人口增加和向碳中和经济转型而导致的未来产量差距。为此，需要更好地理解代谢和发育过程之间的相互作用。过去，这些过程是彼此独立处理的，但需要协调努力来理解源库关系的细微机制，从而优化作物产量。在这里，我们描述了利用当前代谢概念和我们对决定库发育的分子过程的理解所衍生的策略来设计高产作物植物的方法。
