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]
- Univ. of Sheffield (United Kingdom). Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
- 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
White, Angela C., Rogers, Alistair, Rees, Mark, and Osborne, Colin P.. How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate. United States: N. p.,
Web. doi:10.1093/jxb/erv447.
White, Angela C., Rogers, Alistair, Rees, Mark, & Osborne, Colin P.. How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate. United States. doi:10.1093/jxb/erv447.
White, Angela C., Rogers, Alistair, Rees, Mark, and Osborne, Colin P.. 2015.
"How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate". United States.
doi:10.1093/jxb/erv447. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1336061.
@article{osti_1336061,
title = {How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate},
author = {White, Angela C. and Rogers, Alistair and Rees, Mark and Osborne, Colin P.},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1093/jxb/erv447},
journal = {Journal of Experimental Botany},
number = 1,
volume = 67,
place = {United States},
year = {2015},
month = {10}
}
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript (DOE)
- Publisher's Version of Record
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erv447