Photosynthesis involves capturing light energy and, most often, converting it to chemical energy stored as reduced carbon. It is the source of food, fuel, and fiber and there is a resurgent interest in basic research on photosynthesis. Plants make excellent use of visible light energy; leaves are ideally suited to optimize light use by having a large area per amount of material invested and also having leaf angles to optimize light utilization. It is thought that plants do not use green light but in fact they use green light better than blue light under some conditions. Leaves also have mechanisms to protect against excess light and how these work in a stochastic light environment is currently a very active area of current research. The speed at which photosynthesis can begin when leaves are first exposed to light and the speed of induction of protective mechanisms, as well as the speed at which protective mechanisms dissipate when light levels decline, have recently been explored. Research is also focused on reducing wasteful processes such as photorespiration, when oxygen instead of carbon dioxide is used. Some success has been reported in altering the path of carbon in photorespiration but on closer inspection there appears to be unforeseen effects contributing to the good news. The stoichiometry of interaction of light reactions with carbon metabolism is rigid and the time constants vary tremendously presenting large challenges to regulatory mechanisms. Regulatory mechanisms will be the topic of photosynthesis research for some time to come.
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September 2020
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Cover Image
This issue of Emerging Topics in Life Sciences is guest edited by Richard Reece, and celebrates 10 years of the Royal Society of Biology. The cover features a photograph submitted by Claire Kremen, who's article discusses how the silvopastoral system in Colombia restores connectivity to landscapes and improves conditions for biodiversity while providing cattle farmers with improved productivity and profitability. Photograph by Andrés Felipe Zuluaga Salazar, The Nature Conservancy.
Perspective|
June 23 2020
Emerging research in plant photosynthesis
Thomas D. Sharkey
MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Plant Resilience Institute, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, U.S.A
Correspondence: Thomas D. Sharkey (tsharkey@msu.edu)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
May 11 2020
Revision Received:
June 03 2020
Accepted:
June 05 2020
Online ISSN: 2397-8562
Print ISSN: 2397-8554
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology
2020
Emerg Top Life Sci (2020) 4 (2): 137–150.
Article history
Received:
May 11 2020
Revision Received:
June 03 2020
Accepted:
June 05 2020
Citation
Thomas D. Sharkey; Emerging research in plant photosynthesis. Emerg Top Life Sci 8 September 2020; 4 (2): 137–150. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20200035
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