Recent Posts

Bundle sheath chloroplast volume can house sufficient Rubisco to avoid limiting C4 photosynthesis during chilling (J Exp Bot)

It has long been thought that C4 species generally perform less well than C3 species in cold environments as a consequence of a physical space restriction.  C3 species tend to accumulate more rubisco under chilling stress to avoid limiting photosynthesis, but there is less capacity for this in C4 species…

Review:  C4-like photosynthesis has important functions in C3 plant vasculature (JXB)

In contrast to the much-studied photosynthetic processes in C4 plant vasculature, the processes in the cells surrounding C3 veins remain much less understood.  Here, there appears to be a partial and more spatially-separated C4 pathway, which has been observed in several species including rice, Arabidopsis,…

Unexpected reversal of C3 versus C4 grass response to elevated carbon dioxide during a 20-year field experiment (Science) $

It is widely accepted that the growth of C3 plants responds more to elevated CO2 (eCO2) than that of C4 plants, since photosynthesis in C3 plants is more limited by the current atmospheric CO2:O2 ratio due to the oxygenase activity of Rubisco.  This has been established empirically in short-term eCO2…

Natural variation within a species for traits underpinning C4 photosynthesis (Plant Physiol)

While C4 photosynthesis is relatively well understood, the research community is still some distance from converting a C3 crop to one that performs C4 photosynthesis.  There are many reasons for this, including the complex requirement to reconstitute Kranz leaf anatomy in a C3 species, and the elusive…