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Enhancing the productivity of ryegrass at elevated CO2 is dependent on tillering and leaf area development rather than leaf-level photosynthesis.

ABSTRACT: Whilst a range of strategies have been proposed for enhancing crop productivity, many recent studies have focused primarily on enhancing leaf photosynthesis under current atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Given that the atmospheric CO2 concentration is likely to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, an alternative/complementary strategy might be to exploit any variability in the enhancement of growth/yield and photosynthesis at higher CO2 concentrations. To explore this, we investigated the responses of a diverse range of wild and cultivated ryegrass genotypes, with contrasting geographical origins, to ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations and examined what genetically tractable plant trait(s) might be targeted by plant breeders for future yield enhancements. We found substantial ~7-fold intraspecific variations in biomass productivity among the different genotypes at both CO2 levels, which were related primarily to differences in tillering/leaf area, with only small differences due to leaf photosynthesis. Interestingly, the ranking of genotypes in terms of their response to both CO2 concentrations was similar. However, as expected, estimates of whole-plant photosynthesis were strongly correlated with plant productivity. Our results suggest that greater yield gains under elevated CO2 are likely through the exploitation of genetic differences in tillering and leaf area rather than focusing solely on improving leaf photosynthesis.

SUBMITTER: Yiotis C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7921301 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Enhancing the productivity of ryegrass at elevated CO2 is dependent on tillering and leaf area development rather than leaf-level photosynthesis.

Yiotis Charilaos C McElwain Jennifer C JC Osborne Bruce A BA

Journal of experimental botany 20210201 5

Whilst a range of strategies have been proposed for enhancing crop productivity, many recent studies have focused primarily on enhancing leaf photosynthesis under current atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Given that the atmospheric CO2 concentration is likely to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, an alternative/complementary strategy might be to exploit any variability in the enhancement of growth/yield and photosynthesis at higher CO2 concentrations. To explore this, we investigate ...[more]

PMID: 33315099

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Project description:Background and aimsUnderstanding how climate change influences crop productivity helps in identifying new options to increase crop productivity. Soybean is the most important dicotyledonous seed crop in terms of planting area. Although the impacts of elevated atmospheric [CO2] on soybean physiology, growth and biomass accumulation have been studied extensively, the contribution of different factors to changes in season-long whole crop photosynthetic CO2 uptake [gross primary productivity (GPP)] under elevated [CO2] have not been fully quantified.MethodsA 3-D canopy model combining canopy 3-D architecture, ray tracing and leaf photosynthesis was built to: (1) study the impacts of elevated [CO2] on soybean GPP across a whole growing season; (2) dissect the contribution of different factors to changes in GPP; and (3) determine the extent, if any, of synergism between [CO2] and light on changes in GPP. The model was parameterized from measurements of leaf physiology and canopy architectural parameters at the soybean Free Air CO2 Enrichment (SoyFACE) facility in Champaign, Illinois.Key resultsUsing this model, we showed that both a CO2 fertilization effect and changes in canopy architecture contributed to the large increase in GPP while acclimation in photosynthetic physiological parameters to elevated [CO2] and altered leaf temperature played only a minor role in the changes in GPP. Furthermore, at early developmental stages, elevated [CO2] increased leaf area index which led to increased canopy light absorption and canopy photosynthesis. At later developmental stages, on days with high ambient light levels, the proportion of leaves in a canopy limited by Rubisco carboxylation increased from 12.2 % to 35.6 %, which led to a greater enhancement of elevated [CO2] to GPP.ConclusionsThis study develops a new method to dissect the contribution of different factors to responses of crops under climate change. We showed that there is a synergestic effect of CO2 and light on crop growth under elevated CO2 conditions.

Dataset Information

Enhancing the productivity of ryegrass at elevated CO2 is dependent on tillering and leaf area development rather than leaf-level photosynthesis.

Publications

Enhancing the productivity of ryegrass at elevated CO2 is dependent on tillering and leaf area development rather than leaf-level photosynthesis.

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