PHOTOSYNTHESIS 2.0
Plant Power
for the Future
A Proposal
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Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
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MORE
WITH LESS?
LIFE ON
EARTH
We all learnt about photosynthesis at
school, but photosynthesis is much more
than a simplified theory in our science
textbooks. It is the foundation of life and
the engine of agriculture and algal biomass
production – and there is so much more
potential to be gained from this source of
plant power.
The Photosynthesis 2.0 initiative offers
an answer to many of these challenges.
Before
nuclear power
Before
oil & gas power
Before
steam power
Photosynthesis is the basis of life on Earth.
A remarkable biological process which uses
three readily available ingredients…
It is important to consider that:
Before even
manpower
There was
plant power.
Photosynthesis, the greatest and most fundamental source
of power for life, remains largely untamed at a time when
we face enormous challenges in terms of food, energy and
climate change. So why are we not we making more of it?
• Global demand for food will grow
by at least 60% by 2050
• On our current trajectory, the Earth’s
resources will not suffice
• We have to produce more and
healthier food…
• and biomass to drive the bio-based
economy…
• ...without using additional land and
with limited water resources…
• ....while reducing our environmental
impact and maintaining biodiversity.
In other words, we have to produce more
with less. To get farther, we need to rev
up the engine.
solar
energy
CO2
water
… to produce chemical energy (stored
as carbohydrates), the building blocks of
plants and the oxygen we breathe.
Photosynthesis is therefore a source of
abundant, sustainable energy, one that
offers enormous potential in terms of both
feeding the World’s population and driving
forward the bio-based economy.
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Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
ONE IN
TEN
Over the last half a century, the yield
increases achieved by conventional plant
breeding have remained steady at about
1% per year. To meet the expected food
needs of a global population we will need to
double yields by 2050 – a year on year yield
increase of 1.7%.
Achieving this major rise will require a
transformative new technology to significantly boost crop yields. Improved photosynthesis can become that game changer,
transforming agriculture, creating new
technologies and removing the threat of
food insecurity.
Models calculate that 10% of sunlight received by the Earth could be captured and
converted to chemical energy by photosynthesis. And yet, crucially, only around 1%
of light is currently being harnessed in this
way in typical agricultural systems.
You don’t need to be a scientist to recognise
the massive benefits that would be within
reach if we knew how to improve photosynthetic systems.
FAR-FETCHED?
CERTAINLY
NOT
We know in principle what needs to be
done and how we can do this.
We know how to get new discoveries
from the lab into the field.
Now we need the resources to put these
ideas into practice.
Much remains to be learned and many
important applications still need to be
developed. While we know the principles
of how the engine of life works, we still lack
sufficient detailed knowledge of photosynthesis to allow us to master and transform it,
creating a powerful engine for agriculture.
Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
THE TIME
IS NOW
GIVING
EVOLUTION
A HELPING
HAND
Investment in fundamental, multi-disciplinary research into this complex biological
phenomenon has been sadly lacking.
As a result, and to continue the power
analogy, many of our crops are running
on old two-stroke engines… It’s high time
they were running on high-horsepower,
super-efficient hybrid motors.
Photosynthetic organisms inhabit nearly all
ecosystems and corners of the globe, from
algae growing under the polar ice to cacti
proliferating in extreme deserts and small
flowering plants like edelweiss growing on
high Alpine peaks. Some plants are known
to be real photosynthetic powerhouses.
Europe has tremendous expertise in photosynthesis and the associated plant sciences.
So far this community has not had the
opportunity to come together and pioneer
the transformation of photosynthesis.
The time has come for a broad-based,
pan-European initiative to improve and
harness photosynthesis.
The time has come to generate Plant
Power for the Future.
The time has come for Photosynthesis
2.0
It is clear that the process of photosynthesis
is highly adaptable and flexible. Selecting
for algae and plants with modified growth
and/or leaf canopies can provide further
gains
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Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
MAKING
PLANTS WORK
FOR US
LOOKING TO
THE FUTURE
The carbon fixed by photosynthesis is
used to form diverse organic compounds.
There are often trade-offs in the products
made: we grow potatoes for their starch,
pine trees for their cellulose, and algae for
their sugars and oils for biofuel production.
By understanding the diversity of reactions
and pathways, we can modify them in order
to optimise the outputs for the desired
products.
Challenges related to food, energy and
the climate can be directly addressed via
fundamental research into photosynthesis.
They include:
Moreover, many of the plant products
that are of critical importance to human
health, particularly vitamins, are produced
and have evolved because of their role in
photosynthesis. It is possible to improve
the photosynthetic traits and nutrition value
of key crops simultaneously.
Higher food yields
Production of more nutritious foods
Optimisation of carbon assimilation for
the biobased economy
Capture and storage of more carbon
dioxide to mitigate climate change
The fundamental question that needs to
be solved is how efficient plant production
(more with less) can be achieved, first by
fine-tuning and second by redesigning photosynthesis. We need to:
Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
PAUSE FOR
THOUGHT
HOW?
When CERN was first proposed, the goal
was to understand the nature of matter.
Without knowing what the practical or
applied aspects would be, European policymakers understood the importance of
understanding the building blocks of matter.
Today, the impact of what was learned by
the CERN initiative is enormous.
Our goal then is to understand interactions,
predict and fine-tune these interactions and,
ultimately, rebuild photosynthesis as the
engine of life.
We believe that research into photosynthesis
has similar potential in the world of biology.
The path to applications relevant to food,
energy and the climate is quite clear and the
time to tackle these issues is now.
We have a focused and ambitious plan
aimed at a doubling of crop yields
by 2050.
We will combine science and expertise
from across Europe and across disciplines.
The experimental work will extend from
the nano-scale of electrons and molecules
right up to leaves, canopies and plants in
the field.
We have organised our programme into
seven interlocking experimental (understanding) sub-programmes. These are
complemented and supported by by four
enabling technologies to help predict and
fine-tune the motor.
Understand all the parts and how they
interact together
Predict and fine-tune them to generate
higher efficiency
Rebuild the engine of life
2050
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Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
THE SUB-PROGRAMMES AND
THEIR MAIN GOALS
SP1: Light harvesting and primary events
SP3: Chloroplast biology
SP5: Carbon concentrating mechanisms
Provide an understanding of all the initial
processes of photosynthesis required to
optimise chemical energy needed for CO2
fixation under different light and environmental conditions.
Understand the multi-functional dynamics
of chloroplast biology from photosynthesis, environmental sensing, signalling and
lifespan control.
Identify the unifying principles that underlie
carbon-concentrating mechanisms (such
as C4 and CAM) to gain a mechanistic understanding of how photosynthetic carbon
pumps are assembled and maintained from
a limited set of biological parts.
The two long-term aims are to optimise
photosynthesis in existing crops and algae
and to redesign oxygenic photosynthesis
by extending the spectrum of light used into
the near-infrared range.
The three main goals are to improve the
efficiency of photosynthesis; to extend the
functional lifespan of chloroplasts and to
tailor acclimation and defence functions to
better protect crop plants against biotic and
abiotic stresses.
SP2: Calvin-Benson Cycle,
photorespiration and shunts
SP4: Optimising carbon dioxide supply
and light use at the leaf scale
Provide novel information on the regulation
and function of the entire Calvin Benson
cycle (including Rubisco), and understand
how this is integrated with its output pathways.
Understand leaf architecture (tissue anatomy/cell structure) in relation to its role in
carbon dioxide transport, carbon dioxide
supply to enzymes, and light absorption and
use by the leaf.
The goal is to optimise the Calvin-Benson
cycle and photorespiratory pathway by
exploiting functional genetic analysis of
existing natural variation, mathematical
metabolic models and disruptive synthetic
reconstruction approaches. The results will
include novel tools and identifying novel
targets for exploitation.
The perspective is to manipulate leaf
anatomy and development for improving
photosynthesis and water use efficiency.
A combination of genetic and functional
approaches will be used to identify genes
that affect leaf anatomy and to investigate
how and to what degree these genes can be
used to optimise the photosynthetic output
of leaves.
Extract the design principles by analysing
the genetic, biochemical and physiological
variations that exist between pairs of related
species which either possess or lack these
carbon-concentrating mechanisms. Functional genetic analysis and reconstruction
biology will be used to validate the derived
molecular blueprints.
SP6: Integration and scaling of photosynthesis in leaves and canopies
Understand at the genetic and physiological
level how high photosynthetic resource-use
(especially light-use) efficiencies in leaves
and canopies emerge from the combined
actions of molecular-scale processes.
The phenotype is commonly measured at
high levels of integration, such as leaves or
canopies, and it is important to establish
the link between the phenotype, genes and
gene products if we are to create an effective tool kit for improving photosynthesis.
SP7: Photosynthesis in the field –
dynamic adaptations and traits
Discover mechanisms for regulating the
efficiency with which photosynthesis at the
leaf level responds to variable light environments on a short and long-term scale.
Future climate scenarios of high temperature and high CO2 will be used to understand how such conditions can best be
exploited to optimise photosynthesis and
maintain crop yields. This will provide the
physiological and genetic basis for breeding
resilient crops capable of strong and consistent yields in a variable environment.
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Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
Photosynthesis 2.0 ~ Plant power for the future ~ A Proposal
ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
ET1: Phenotyping and instrumentation
The high-throughput phenotyping of photosynthesis related-traits under controlled
and field conditions will be an essential
tool for the identification of exceptional
genotypes, QTL gene identification, and
field photosynthesis.
We will need to extend existing phenotyping techniques and develop new techniques to support the research needs of the
project. In particular we will need to develop methods suitable for 3D phenotyping
complex plant structures and for working in
field conditions.
Photosynthesis also depends on specialised
instrumentation, much of which is lab-built
and not commercially available. Few groups
now have the ability to build this equipment
themselves and the availability of these labbuilt systems can often limit progress.
Another task is to ensure that equipment
that is not commercially available is developed and made available to all groups when
needed.
ET2: Chloroplast engineering and
synthetic biology
ET3: Natural variation, genetics and
evolution
Nearly all approaches towards improving
and/or redesigning photosynthesis are critically dependent on our ability to engineer
the chloroplast genome. The first objective
will establish plastid transformation protocols for model and crop species.
Identify genetic variation in photosynthetic
traits and unravel it into individual genetic
factors, at two levels of organisation: across
the green tree of life and within species.
The second objective will define and exploit
the modularity of biosynthetic enzymes
and pathways to interface these with the
photosynthetic electron transport chain and
carbon metabolism in a synthetic biology
approach.
Transformation systems will facilitate
the systematic engineering of the photosynthetic apparatus. This will include radical
redesign strategies aimed at improving the
efficiency of photosynthesis using synthetic
biology approaches.
By analysing the genomes, genes and
phenotypes of key species along the tree of
life, we can gain new insights and understanding about the diversification of photosynthesis in plants, including the constraints
which evolution has imposed along the way.
The genetic variation present within and
between crops and related species will be
unravelled to the gene level so it can be
used for the photosynthetic improvement
of crops.
ET4: Modelling and systems biology
Establish the stoichiometry of all relevant
cellular processes at the molecular level
(based on systems biology approaches)
to create a hierarchical systems model,
covering spatial and temporal scales at the
cell level. The multiple modules will be
readily embeddable in large-scale models
of metabolism to investigate pathway
crosstalk.
Create a knowledge chain along the
different organisation levels (chloroplast,
cell types, leaf, canopy, plant and field) to
scale up all aspects of light interception,
absorption and energy generation.
Ultimately, we will be able to make in
silico predictions of the key properties of
photosynthesis, resource use efficiencies of
biomass production and come up with new
strategies.
By doing so, we could potentially redesign
photosynthesis, a Photosynthesis 2.0, to
improve plant yields under both favourable
and unfavourable growth conditions and
give us Plant Power for the Future.
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Written contributions for sub-programmes and enabling technologies were made by
the following researchers (with their affiliations). List presented in alphabetical order.
Mark Aarts*
Herbert van Amerongen*
Ralph Bock
Elizabete Carmo-Silva
Roberta Croce*
Giovanni Finazzi
Christine Foyer
Bernard Genty
Jeremy Harbinson*
Julian Hibberd
Poul Erik Jensen
Rene Klein Lankhorst*
Anja Krieger
Dario Leister
Erik Murchie
Zoran Nikoloski Martin Parry
Christine Raines
A. William Rutherford
M. Eric Schranz*
Ullrich Schurr
Paul Struik
Andreas Weber
Dolf Weijers
Peter Westhoff
Wageningen University
Wageningen University
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Lancaster University
VU, University Amsterdam
CEA - Grenoble
University of Leeds
CEA Cadarache
Wageningen University
University of Cambridge
University of Copenhagen
Wageningen University
CEA Saclay
Ludwig-Maximilians University - Munich
The University of Nottingham
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Lancaster University
University of Essex
Imperial College London
Wageningen University
FZ-Juellich
Wageningen University
Heinrich Heine University - Duesseldorf
Wageningen University
Heinrich Heine University - Duesseldorf
To get involved or to learn more please email: [email protected] or contact
one of the steering committee* Photosynthesis 2.0 - Postbus 98 - 6700 AB Wageningen - The Netherlands