This is a community to discuss research articles about the beautifully complex light-driven molecular machinery that makes life on earth possible: photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis is a biological process used by many cellular organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy, which is stored in organic compounds that can later be metabolized through cellular respiration to fuel the organism's activities
-Wikipedia
Cacao and chocolate production is a global industry worth around $133 billion. Full sun cultivation is a modern approach aimed at increasing yields. We evaluated six cacao clones (PS 1319, CCN 10, CCN 51, PH 16, SJ 02, and CP 49) grown under full sun conditions to assess their leaf physiology, ...
Abstract
Cacao and chocolate production is a global industry worth around $133 billion. Full sun cultivation is a modern approach aimed at increasing yields. We evaluated six cacao clones (PS 1319, CCN 10, CCN 51, PH 16, SJ 02, and CP 49) grown under full sun conditions to assess their leaf physiology, leaf structure, yield, and yield components. Leaf physiology was measured through seven gas exchange parameters, while leaf structure was analyzed using eight measurements. For fruit and seed, we evaluated seven yield components. The clones showed differences in gas exchange. Clones PH 16 and PS 1319 had higher net photosynthetic rates per unit of leaf area (A), transpiration rates, and lower leaf internal CO2 concentrations. These A high values suggest the clones are well-acclimatized to full sun cultivation. Water availability, nutrient supply, and appropriate plant architecture also contributed to this acclimatization. Under high light intensity, the potential quantum yield of
Higher plants have developed complex mechanisms to adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions with light playing a vital role in photosynthesis and influencing various developmental processes, including photomorphogenesis. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation can cause cellular damage, necessit...
Plants use photosynthesis to produce oxygen, nutrients and bioenergy. But this complex biochemical process is inefficient, with only a fraction of the sun's energy actually being utilized in photosynthesis. Researchers want to change this in order to help increase the yield of cultivated crops. A re...
Ambidextrous Microbes May Pump Out CO2 as Temperatures Rise - Certain microbes that engage in both photosynthesis and predation are more likely to do the latter as the planet warms
Certain microbes that engage in both photosynthesis and predation are more likely to do the latter as the planet warms, resulting in a net release of carbon dioxide.
ELI5: How do extremely variegated plants survive and thrive?
I love varigated plants and have a ton of them. I'm continually amazed at what leaves manage to survive if they're not completely white, and sometimes those white leaves just hang on longer than they should. Please ELI5, someone how these zombie creatures survive and flourish?
New research reveals how marine microbes use an extra membrane that once had digestive functions to boost their yield from photosynthesis.
Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis
This is a book that I strongly to anyone with a reasonable biochemistry/chemistry background. Reading this book inspired me to create a community dedicated to photosynthesis, because I want to follow the work in this field more closely.
Photosynthesis is a topic introduced early during our education. We are taught that light consists of bundles of energy, and that plants use the energy from carried by sunlight to build carbohydrates from water and CO2.
Around high school and in introductory college level classes many of us also learn that plants are green because of the chlorophyll molecules, which absorb the blue and the red regions of the spectrum and leave enough green behind to be reflected. The absorbed light is used to kick-out an electron from a magnesium ion that is held at the center of the chlorophyll molecules, and this electron begins a sequence of redox reactions that eventually leads to the production of metabolic energy and carbohydrates.
This simplified description
For the first time, MIT chemists measured the energy transfer between photosynthetic light-harvesting proteins. They discovered that the disorganized arrangement of light-harvesting proteins boosts the efficiency of the energy transduction.
