Variable mesophyll conductance among soybean cultivars sets a tradeoff between photosynthesis and water-use-efficiency

An experimental study by Tomeo and Rosenthal with soybean cultivars  demonstrated that there exists genotypic differences in mesophyll conductance (gm),  and that the potential exploitation of this trait may increase crop productivity. It was found that there exists a proper coordination mechanism between  gm and the physiology of leaf photosynthesis. The gm which alters the CO2 concentration in the leaf photosynthesis apparatus was found to be independent of water loss from the leaf and the exploitation of this trait in selecting genotypes which have higher gm will help in developing improved productive and climate resilient varieties. (Summary by Sridhar Gutam) Plant Physiol.

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