Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Faster than expected Rubisco deactivation in shade reduces cowpea photosynthetic potential in variable light conditions
AU - Taylor, Samuel
AU - Gonzalez-Escobar, Emmanuel
AU - Page, Rhiannon
AU - Parry, Martin
AU - Long, Stephen
AU - Carmo-Silva, Elizabete
PY - 2022/2/28
Y1 - 2022/2/28
N2 - Cowpea is the major source of vegetable protein for rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa and average yields are not keeping pace with population growth. Each day, crop leaves experience many shade events and the speed of photosynthetic adjustment to this dynamic environment strongly affects daily carbon gain. Rubisco activity is particularly important because it depends on the speed and extent of deactivation in shade and recovers slowly on return to sun. Here, direct biochemical measurements showed a much faster rate of Rubisco deactivation in cowpea than prior estimates inferred from dynamics of leaf gas exchange in other species 1-3. Shade-induced deactivation was driven by decarbamylation, and half-times for both deactivation in shade and activation in saturating light were shorter than estimates from gas exchange (≤53% and 79%, respectively). Incorporating these half-times into a model of diurnal canopy photosynthesis predicted a 21% diurnal loss of productivity and suggests slowing Rubisco deactivation during shade is an unexploited opportunity for improving crop productivity.
AB - Cowpea is the major source of vegetable protein for rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa and average yields are not keeping pace with population growth. Each day, crop leaves experience many shade events and the speed of photosynthetic adjustment to this dynamic environment strongly affects daily carbon gain. Rubisco activity is particularly important because it depends on the speed and extent of deactivation in shade and recovers slowly on return to sun. Here, direct biochemical measurements showed a much faster rate of Rubisco deactivation in cowpea than prior estimates inferred from dynamics of leaf gas exchange in other species 1-3. Shade-induced deactivation was driven by decarbamylation, and half-times for both deactivation in shade and activation in saturating light were shorter than estimates from gas exchange (≤53% and 79%, respectively). Incorporating these half-times into a model of diurnal canopy photosynthesis predicted a 21% diurnal loss of productivity and suggests slowing Rubisco deactivation during shade is an unexploited opportunity for improving crop productivity.
KW - PHOTOSYNTHESIS
KW - Rubisco
KW - Rubisco activation
KW - Cowpea
U2 - 10.1038/s41477-021-01068-9
DO - 10.1038/s41477-021-01068-9
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35058608
VL - 8
SP - 118
EP - 124
JO - Nature Plants
JF - Nature Plants
SN - 2055-0278
IS - 2
ER -