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  • Accepted Manuscript: How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate

Title: How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate

Growth is a major component of fitness in all organisms, an important mediator of competitive interactions in plant communities, and a central determinant of yield in crops. Understanding what limits plant growth is therefore of fundamental importance to plant evolution, ecology, and crop science, but each discipline views the process from a different perspective. This review highlights the importance of source–sink interactions as determinants of growth. The evidence for source- and sink-limitation of growth, and the ways in which regulatory molecular feedback systems act to maintain an appropriate source:sink balance, are first discussed. Evidence clearly shows that future increases in crop productivity depend crucially on a quantitative understanding of the extent to which sources or sinks limit growth, and how this changes during development. In addition, to identify bottlenecks limiting growth and yield, a holistic view of growth is required at the whole-plant scale, incorporating mechanistic interactions between physiology, resource allocation, and plant development. Such a holistic perspective on source–sink interactions will allow the development of a more integrated, whole-system level understanding of growth, with benefits across multiple disciplines.
Authors:
 [1] ;  [2] ;  [1] ;  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Sheffield (United Kingdom). Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Biological, Environmental and Climate Sciences Department
Publication Date:
Report Number(s):
BNL-112417-2016-JA
Journal ID: ISSN 0022-0957; R&D Project: 2016-BNL-EE630EECA-Budg; KP1701000
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Experimental Botany
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 67; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-0957
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Research Org:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; carbon; crops; models; nitrogen; plant growth; regulation; sink; source
OSTI Identifier:
1336061
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