Roland Pieruschka - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Roland Pieruschka
Next generation sequencing and metabolomics have become very cost and work efficient and are inte... more Next generation sequencing and metabolomics have become very cost and work efficient and are integrated into an ever growing number of life science research projects. Typically, well established software pipelines provide quantitative data informing about gene expression or concentrations of metabolites from the raw data. This data needs to be visualized and further analyzed in order to support scientific hypothesis building and identification of underlying biological patterns. Some tools exist, but require installation or manual programming. We developed "Gene Expression Plotter" (GXP), an RNA-Seq and Metabolomics data visualization and analysis tool entirely running in the user's web browsers, thus not needing any custom installation, manual programming or upload of confidential data to third party servers. GXP enables the user to generate interactive plots, visually summarize genetic or metabolic responses in scientific sketches (Mapman), carry out cluster and principal component analysis, and conduct overrepresentation analyses. GXP can be used to publish research data along with interactive plots and results of analyses carried out with it.
Work Package N° WP2 Title Infrastructure setup, operation and funding Date of delivery Contractua... more Work Package N° WP2 Title Infrastructure setup, operation and funding Date of delivery Contractual 30/04/2018 (Month 16) Actual 30/08/2018 (Month 20) Dissemination level x PU Public, fully open, e.g. web CO Confidential, restricted under conditions set out in Model Grant Agreement CI Classified, information as referred to in Commission Decision 2001/844/EC.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Jan 12, 2022
Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level P... more Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level Public Due date (in months) 36 Delivery date (actual) 12/01/22 Description of deliverable Guidance for forming new cooperative relationships RI-VIS Deliverable D4.3 version 1.0 Table of Contents Executive Summary .
For the past six years, IPPN and EMPHASIS have carried out their bi-annual "Plant Phenotypin... more For the past six years, IPPN and EMPHASIS have carried out their bi-annual "Plant Phenotyping Surveys". They cover basic and advanced questions related to plant phenotyping for the purpose of assessing the status of global plant phenotyping and emerging fields. The surveys address participants from <strong>all geographic regions and in all professional disciplines in any way related to plant phenotyping</strong>.<br> <br> The survey data provide the primary source of information for our plant phenotyping knowledge base, informing us about the topics and issues inherent to the international and regional (sub-)communities, in academia and industry. This also helps us to identify potential gaps and understand the demands of the community in terms of required services and tools.
Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level P... more Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level PU Due date (in months) 20 Delivery date (actual) 14/10/2020 Description of deliverable Top-level communication point enabling communication and interaction between different RIs and new partners
Humana Press eBooks, 2012
The interaction of plants with their environment is very dynamic. Studying the underlying process... more The interaction of plants with their environment is very dynamic. Studying the underlying processes is important for understanding and modeling plant response to changing environmental conditions. Photosynthesis varies largely between different plants and at different locations within a canopy of a single plant. Thus, continuous and spatially distributed monitoring is necessary to assess the dynamic response of photosynthesis to the environment. Limited scale of observation with portable instrumentation makes it difficult to examine large numbers of plants under different environmental conditions. We report here on the application of a recently developed technique, laser-induced fluorescence transient (LIFT), for continuous remote measurement of photosynthetic efficiency of selected leaves at a distance of up to 50 m. The ability to make continuous, automatic, and remote measurements of photosynthetic efficiency of leaves with the LIFT provides a new approach for studying the interaction of plants with the environment and may become an important tool in phenotyping photosynthetic properties in field applications.
Springer eBooks, 2010
The light use efficiency of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors and is one... more The light use efficiency of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors and is one major factor determining crop yield. Optical remote sensing techniques have the potential to detect physiological and biochemical changes in plant ecosystems, and non-invasive detection of changes in photosynthetic energy conversion may be of great potential for managing agricultural production in a future bio-based economy. Here we
Plant phenomics, Mar 26, 2019
A plant develops the dynamic phenotypes from the interaction of the plant with the environment. U... more A plant develops the dynamic phenotypes from the interaction of the plant with the environment. Understanding these processes that span plant's lifetime in a permanently changing environment is essential for the advancement of basic plant science and its translation into application including breeding and crop management. The plant research community was thus confronted with the need to accurately measure diverse traits of an increasingly large number of plants to help plants to adapt to resource-limiting environment and low-input agriculture. In this overview, we outline the development of plant phenotyping as a multidisciplinary field. We sketch the technological advancement that laid the foundation for the development of phenotyping centers and evaluate the upcoming challenges for further advancement of plant phenotyping specifically with respect to standardization of data acquisition and reusability. Finally, we describe the development of the plant phenotyping community as an essential step to integrate the community and effectively use the emerging synergies.
Functional Plant Biology, 2010
Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements have been widely applied to quantify the photosynthetic eff... more Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements have been widely applied to quantify the photosynthetic efficiency of plants non-destructively. The most commonly used pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) technique provides a saturating light pulse, which is not practical at the canopy scale. We report here on a recently developed technique, laser induced fluorescence transient (LIFT), which is capable of remotely measuring the photosynthetic efficiency of selected leaves at a distance of up to 50 m. The LIFT approach correlated well with gas exchange measurements under laboratory conditions and was tested in a field experiment monitoring the combined effect of low temperatures and high light intensity on a variety of plants during the early winter in California. We observed a reduction in maximum and effective quantum yield in electron transport for Capsicum annuum L., Lycopersicon esculentum L. and Persea americana Mill. as the temperatures fell, while a grass community was not affected by combined low temperature and high light stress. The ability to make continuous, automatic and remote measurements of the photosynthetic efficiency of leaves with the LIFT system provides a new approach for studying and monitoring of stress effects on the canopy scale.
Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A-molecular & Integrative Physiology, Jun 1, 2009
in mid-veins from A. thaliana is able to use CO 2 derived from organic acids present in the trans... more in mid-veins from A. thaliana is able to use CO 2 derived from organic acids present in the transpiration stream because of significant activities of four-carbon decarboxylases in the mid-vein. To analyse how the regulation of genes encoding these decarboxylases has altered during the evolution of C4 photosynthesis, we assessed the abundance of transcripts derived from each gene encoding the decarboxylases in mid-veins, and cloned orthologues from Cleome gynandra, the most closely-related C4 plant to A. thaliana. Comparative analysis allows us to identify mechanisms underlying the alterations in gene expression required for a functional C4 leaf.
... Roland Pieruschka1,2, Denis Klimov3, Uwe Rascher2, Zbigniew S. Kolber3, and Joseph A. Berry1 ... more ... Roland Pieruschka1,2, Denis Klimov3, Uwe Rascher2, Zbigniew S. Kolber3, and Joseph A. Berry1 ... for measuring of photo-synthetic properties in inaccessible canopies from a distance up to 50 m and was successfully tested at the Biosphere II Laboratories (Ananyev et al. ...
The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and... more The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and this leads to complex spatio-temporal variations of photosynthesis on various scales from the leaf to the canopy level. These spatio-temporal pattern formations not only help to understand the regulatory properties of photosynthesis, but may also have a constructive role in maintaining stability in metabolic pathways and during development. Optical remote sensing techniques have the potential to detect physiological and biochemical changes in plant ecosystems, and non-invasive detection of changes in photosynthetic energy conversion may be of great potential for managing agricultural production in a future bio-based economy. Here we review the results from selected remote sensing projects for their potential to quantify LUE from the level of single leaves to the canopy scale. In a case study with soybean grown under elevated CO 2 conditions at the SoyFACE facility, we tested the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) for its capacity to quantify higher photosynthetic efficiency. In this study the PRI failed to detect differences in photosynthetic light conversion, most likely because of the variable canopy structure of the soybean canopy. We thus conclude that at the current state of the art the PRI cannot serve as an easy remote sensing approach to detect changes in photosynthetic energy conversion in agriculture. As an alternative we present approaches that aim to quantify the fluorescence signal of chlorophyll and thus estimate photosynthetic efficiency. In a second case study, using avocado as a model species, an active laser induced fluorescence transient (LIFT) method was applied to deliver maps of different photosynthetic efficiency within the canopy. Cold-induced down-regulation of photosynthesis in the upper canopy was detected, so active fluorescence may prove its potential for non-invasive monitoring of
Journal of Experimental Botany, Jul 7, 2006
Air pressure in leaf chambers is thought to affect gas exchange measurements through changes in p... more Air pressure in leaf chambers is thought to affect gas exchange measurements through changes in partial pressure of the air components. However, other effects may come into play when homobaric leaves are measured in which internal lateral gas flow may occur. When there was no pressure difference between the leaf chamber and ambient air (DP50), it was found in previous work that lateral CO 2 diffusion could affect measurements performed with clamp-on leaf chambers. On the other hand, overpressure (DP >0) in leaf chambers has been reported to minimize artefacts possibly caused by leaks in chamber sealing. In the present work, net CO 2 exchange rates (NCER) were measured under different DP values (0.0-3.0 kPa) on heterobaric and homobaric leaves. In heterobaric leaves which have internal barriers for lateral gas movement, changes in DP had no significant effect on NCER. For homobaric leaves, effects of DP >0 on measured NCER were significant, obviously due to lateral gas flux inside the leaf mesophyll. The magnitude of the effect was largely defined by stomatal conductance; when stomata were widely open, the impact of DP on measured NCER was up to 7 lmol CO 2 m 22 s 21 kPa 21. Since many other factors are also involved, neither DP50 nor DP >0 was found to be the 'one-size fits all' solution to avoid erroneous effects of lateral gas transport on measurements with clamp-on leaf chambers.
Precision Agriculture, Sep 2, 2008
The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and... more The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and this leads to complex spatio-temporal variations of photosynthesis on various scales from the leaf to the canopy level. These spatio-temporal pattern formations not only help to understand the regulatory properties of photosynthesis, but may also have a constructive role in maintaining stability in metabolic pathways and during development. Optical remote sensing techniques have the potential to detect physiological and biochemical changes in plant ecosystems, and non-invasive detection of changes in photosynthetic energy conversion may be of great potential for managing agricultural production in a future bio-based economy. Here we review the results from selected remote sensing projects for their potential to quantify LUE from the level of single leaves to the canopy scale. In a case study with soybean grown under elevated CO 2 conditions at the SoyFACE facility, we tested the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) for its capacity to quantify higher photosynthetic efficiency. In this study the PRI failed to detect differences in photosynthetic light conversion, most likely because of the variable canopy structure of the soybean canopy. We thus conclude that at the current state of the art the PRI cannot serve as an easy remote sensing approach to detect changes in photosynthetic energy conversion in agriculture. As an alternative we present approaches that aim to quantify the fluorescence signal of chlorophyll and thus estimate photosynthetic efficiency. In a second case study, using avocado as a model species, an active laser induced fluorescence transient (LIFT) method was applied to deliver maps of different photosynthetic efficiency within the canopy. Cold-induced down-regulation of photosynthesis in the upper canopy was detected, so active fluorescence may prove its potential for non-invasive monitoring of
An understanding of spatial and temporal diversity of photosynthetic processes, water and energy ... more An understanding of spatial and temporal diversity of photosynthetic processes, water and energy exchange of complex plant canopies is essential for carbon and climate models. Remote sensing from space or aircraft platforms provides the only practical way to characterize the vast extent of plant canopies around the globe, but the basis for relating physiological processes to remote sensing is still
Plant Signaling & Behavior, Jun 7, 2020
One century ago (1920), Otto Warburg (1883-1970) discovered that in liquid cultures of unicellula... more One century ago (1920), Otto Warburg (1883-1970) discovered that in liquid cultures of unicellular green algae (Chlorella sp.) molecular oxygen (O 2) exerts an inhibitory effect on photosynthesis. Decades later, O 2 dependent suppression of photosynthetic carbon dioxide (CO 2) assimilation (the "green" Warbur geffect) was confirmed on the leaves of seed plants. Here, we summarize the history of this discovery and elucidate the consequences of the photorespiratory pathway in land plants with reference to unpublished CO 2 exchange data measured on the leaves of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) plants. In addition, we discuss the inefficiency of the key enzyme Rubisco and analyze data concerning the productivity of C3 vs. C4 crop species (sunflower vs. maize, Zea mays). Warburg's discovery inaugurated a research agenda in the biochemistry of photosynthetic CO 2 assimilation that continues to the present. In addition, we briefly discuss Warburg's model of metabolic processes in cancer, net primary production (global photosynthesis) with respect to climate change, trees and other land plants as CO 2 removers, and potential climate mitigators in the Anthropocene.
Journal of Experimental Botany, Sep 3, 2022
Next generation sequencing and metabolomics have become very cost and work efficient and are inte... more Next generation sequencing and metabolomics have become very cost and work efficient and are integrated into an ever growing number of life science research projects. Typically, well established software pipelines provide quantitative data informing about gene expression or concentrations of metabolites from the raw data. This data needs to be visualized and further analyzed in order to support scientific hypothesis building and identification of underlying biological patterns. Some tools exist, but require installation or manual programming. We developed "Gene Expression Plotter" (GXP), an RNA-Seq and Metabolomics data visualization and analysis tool entirely running in the user's web browsers, thus not needing any custom installation, manual programming or upload of confidential data to third party servers. GXP enables the user to generate interactive plots, visually summarize genetic or metabolic responses in scientific sketches (Mapman), carry out cluster and principal component analysis, and conduct overrepresentation analyses. GXP can be used to publish research data along with interactive plots and results of analyses carried out with it.
Work Package N° WP2 Title Infrastructure setup, operation and funding Date of delivery Contractua... more Work Package N° WP2 Title Infrastructure setup, operation and funding Date of delivery Contractual 30/04/2018 (Month 16) Actual 30/08/2018 (Month 20) Dissemination level x PU Public, fully open, e.g. web CO Confidential, restricted under conditions set out in Model Grant Agreement CI Classified, information as referred to in Commission Decision 2001/844/EC.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Jan 12, 2022
Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level P... more Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level Public Due date (in months) 36 Delivery date (actual) 12/01/22 Description of deliverable Guidance for forming new cooperative relationships RI-VIS Deliverable D4.3 version 1.0 Table of Contents Executive Summary .
For the past six years, IPPN and EMPHASIS have carried out their bi-annual "Plant Phenotypin... more For the past six years, IPPN and EMPHASIS have carried out their bi-annual "Plant Phenotyping Surveys". They cover basic and advanced questions related to plant phenotyping for the purpose of assessing the status of global plant phenotyping and emerging fields. The surveys address participants from <strong>all geographic regions and in all professional disciplines in any way related to plant phenotyping</strong>.<br> <br> The survey data provide the primary source of information for our plant phenotyping knowledge base, informing us about the topics and issues inherent to the international and regional (sub-)communities, in academia and industry. This also helps us to identify potential gaps and understand the demands of the community in terms of required services and tools.
Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level P... more Type Report Work package No. 4 Work package title International Cooperation Dissemination level PU Due date (in months) 20 Delivery date (actual) 14/10/2020 Description of deliverable Top-level communication point enabling communication and interaction between different RIs and new partners
Humana Press eBooks, 2012
The interaction of plants with their environment is very dynamic. Studying the underlying process... more The interaction of plants with their environment is very dynamic. Studying the underlying processes is important for understanding and modeling plant response to changing environmental conditions. Photosynthesis varies largely between different plants and at different locations within a canopy of a single plant. Thus, continuous and spatially distributed monitoring is necessary to assess the dynamic response of photosynthesis to the environment. Limited scale of observation with portable instrumentation makes it difficult to examine large numbers of plants under different environmental conditions. We report here on the application of a recently developed technique, laser-induced fluorescence transient (LIFT), for continuous remote measurement of photosynthetic efficiency of selected leaves at a distance of up to 50 m. The ability to make continuous, automatic, and remote measurements of photosynthetic efficiency of leaves with the LIFT provides a new approach for studying the interaction of plants with the environment and may become an important tool in phenotyping photosynthetic properties in field applications.
Springer eBooks, 2010
The light use efficiency of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors and is one... more The light use efficiency of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors and is one major factor determining crop yield. Optical remote sensing techniques have the potential to detect physiological and biochemical changes in plant ecosystems, and non-invasive detection of changes in photosynthetic energy conversion may be of great potential for managing agricultural production in a future bio-based economy. Here we
Plant phenomics, Mar 26, 2019
A plant develops the dynamic phenotypes from the interaction of the plant with the environment. U... more A plant develops the dynamic phenotypes from the interaction of the plant with the environment. Understanding these processes that span plant's lifetime in a permanently changing environment is essential for the advancement of basic plant science and its translation into application including breeding and crop management. The plant research community was thus confronted with the need to accurately measure diverse traits of an increasingly large number of plants to help plants to adapt to resource-limiting environment and low-input agriculture. In this overview, we outline the development of plant phenotyping as a multidisciplinary field. We sketch the technological advancement that laid the foundation for the development of phenotyping centers and evaluate the upcoming challenges for further advancement of plant phenotyping specifically with respect to standardization of data acquisition and reusability. Finally, we describe the development of the plant phenotyping community as an essential step to integrate the community and effectively use the emerging synergies.
Functional Plant Biology, 2010
Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements have been widely applied to quantify the photosynthetic eff... more Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements have been widely applied to quantify the photosynthetic efficiency of plants non-destructively. The most commonly used pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) technique provides a saturating light pulse, which is not practical at the canopy scale. We report here on a recently developed technique, laser induced fluorescence transient (LIFT), which is capable of remotely measuring the photosynthetic efficiency of selected leaves at a distance of up to 50 m. The LIFT approach correlated well with gas exchange measurements under laboratory conditions and was tested in a field experiment monitoring the combined effect of low temperatures and high light intensity on a variety of plants during the early winter in California. We observed a reduction in maximum and effective quantum yield in electron transport for Capsicum annuum L., Lycopersicon esculentum L. and Persea americana Mill. as the temperatures fell, while a grass community was not affected by combined low temperature and high light stress. The ability to make continuous, automatic and remote measurements of the photosynthetic efficiency of leaves with the LIFT system provides a new approach for studying and monitoring of stress effects on the canopy scale.
Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A-molecular & Integrative Physiology, Jun 1, 2009
in mid-veins from A. thaliana is able to use CO 2 derived from organic acids present in the trans... more in mid-veins from A. thaliana is able to use CO 2 derived from organic acids present in the transpiration stream because of significant activities of four-carbon decarboxylases in the mid-vein. To analyse how the regulation of genes encoding these decarboxylases has altered during the evolution of C4 photosynthesis, we assessed the abundance of transcripts derived from each gene encoding the decarboxylases in mid-veins, and cloned orthologues from Cleome gynandra, the most closely-related C4 plant to A. thaliana. Comparative analysis allows us to identify mechanisms underlying the alterations in gene expression required for a functional C4 leaf.
... Roland Pieruschka1,2, Denis Klimov3, Uwe Rascher2, Zbigniew S. Kolber3, and Joseph A. Berry1 ... more ... Roland Pieruschka1,2, Denis Klimov3, Uwe Rascher2, Zbigniew S. Kolber3, and Joseph A. Berry1 ... for measuring of photo-synthetic properties in inaccessible canopies from a distance up to 50 m and was successfully tested at the Biosphere II Laboratories (Ananyev et al. ...
The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and... more The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and this leads to complex spatio-temporal variations of photosynthesis on various scales from the leaf to the canopy level. These spatio-temporal pattern formations not only help to understand the regulatory properties of photosynthesis, but may also have a constructive role in maintaining stability in metabolic pathways and during development. Optical remote sensing techniques have the potential to detect physiological and biochemical changes in plant ecosystems, and non-invasive detection of changes in photosynthetic energy conversion may be of great potential for managing agricultural production in a future bio-based economy. Here we review the results from selected remote sensing projects for their potential to quantify LUE from the level of single leaves to the canopy scale. In a case study with soybean grown under elevated CO 2 conditions at the SoyFACE facility, we tested the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) for its capacity to quantify higher photosynthetic efficiency. In this study the PRI failed to detect differences in photosynthetic light conversion, most likely because of the variable canopy structure of the soybean canopy. We thus conclude that at the current state of the art the PRI cannot serve as an easy remote sensing approach to detect changes in photosynthetic energy conversion in agriculture. As an alternative we present approaches that aim to quantify the fluorescence signal of chlorophyll and thus estimate photosynthetic efficiency. In a second case study, using avocado as a model species, an active laser induced fluorescence transient (LIFT) method was applied to deliver maps of different photosynthetic efficiency within the canopy. Cold-induced down-regulation of photosynthesis in the upper canopy was detected, so active fluorescence may prove its potential for non-invasive monitoring of
Journal of Experimental Botany, Jul 7, 2006
Air pressure in leaf chambers is thought to affect gas exchange measurements through changes in p... more Air pressure in leaf chambers is thought to affect gas exchange measurements through changes in partial pressure of the air components. However, other effects may come into play when homobaric leaves are measured in which internal lateral gas flow may occur. When there was no pressure difference between the leaf chamber and ambient air (DP50), it was found in previous work that lateral CO 2 diffusion could affect measurements performed with clamp-on leaf chambers. On the other hand, overpressure (DP >0) in leaf chambers has been reported to minimize artefacts possibly caused by leaks in chamber sealing. In the present work, net CO 2 exchange rates (NCER) were measured under different DP values (0.0-3.0 kPa) on heterobaric and homobaric leaves. In heterobaric leaves which have internal barriers for lateral gas movement, changes in DP had no significant effect on NCER. For homobaric leaves, effects of DP >0 on measured NCER were significant, obviously due to lateral gas flux inside the leaf mesophyll. The magnitude of the effect was largely defined by stomatal conductance; when stomata were widely open, the impact of DP on measured NCER was up to 7 lmol CO 2 m 22 s 21 kPa 21. Since many other factors are also involved, neither DP50 nor DP >0 was found to be the 'one-size fits all' solution to avoid erroneous effects of lateral gas transport on measurements with clamp-on leaf chambers.
Precision Agriculture, Sep 2, 2008
The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and... more The light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis dynamically adapts to environmental factors, and this leads to complex spatio-temporal variations of photosynthesis on various scales from the leaf to the canopy level. These spatio-temporal pattern formations not only help to understand the regulatory properties of photosynthesis, but may also have a constructive role in maintaining stability in metabolic pathways and during development. Optical remote sensing techniques have the potential to detect physiological and biochemical changes in plant ecosystems, and non-invasive detection of changes in photosynthetic energy conversion may be of great potential for managing agricultural production in a future bio-based economy. Here we review the results from selected remote sensing projects for their potential to quantify LUE from the level of single leaves to the canopy scale. In a case study with soybean grown under elevated CO 2 conditions at the SoyFACE facility, we tested the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) for its capacity to quantify higher photosynthetic efficiency. In this study the PRI failed to detect differences in photosynthetic light conversion, most likely because of the variable canopy structure of the soybean canopy. We thus conclude that at the current state of the art the PRI cannot serve as an easy remote sensing approach to detect changes in photosynthetic energy conversion in agriculture. As an alternative we present approaches that aim to quantify the fluorescence signal of chlorophyll and thus estimate photosynthetic efficiency. In a second case study, using avocado as a model species, an active laser induced fluorescence transient (LIFT) method was applied to deliver maps of different photosynthetic efficiency within the canopy. Cold-induced down-regulation of photosynthesis in the upper canopy was detected, so active fluorescence may prove its potential for non-invasive monitoring of
An understanding of spatial and temporal diversity of photosynthetic processes, water and energy ... more An understanding of spatial and temporal diversity of photosynthetic processes, water and energy exchange of complex plant canopies is essential for carbon and climate models. Remote sensing from space or aircraft platforms provides the only practical way to characterize the vast extent of plant canopies around the globe, but the basis for relating physiological processes to remote sensing is still
Plant Signaling & Behavior, Jun 7, 2020
One century ago (1920), Otto Warburg (1883-1970) discovered that in liquid cultures of unicellula... more One century ago (1920), Otto Warburg (1883-1970) discovered that in liquid cultures of unicellular green algae (Chlorella sp.) molecular oxygen (O 2) exerts an inhibitory effect on photosynthesis. Decades later, O 2 dependent suppression of photosynthetic carbon dioxide (CO 2) assimilation (the "green" Warbur geffect) was confirmed on the leaves of seed plants. Here, we summarize the history of this discovery and elucidate the consequences of the photorespiratory pathway in land plants with reference to unpublished CO 2 exchange data measured on the leaves of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) plants. In addition, we discuss the inefficiency of the key enzyme Rubisco and analyze data concerning the productivity of C3 vs. C4 crop species (sunflower vs. maize, Zea mays). Warburg's discovery inaugurated a research agenda in the biochemistry of photosynthetic CO 2 assimilation that continues to the present. In addition, we briefly discuss Warburg's model of metabolic processes in cancer, net primary production (global photosynthesis) with respect to climate change, trees and other land plants as CO 2 removers, and potential climate mitigators in the Anthropocene.
Journal of Experimental Botany, Sep 3, 2022