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Light Acquisition

Light Acquisition

In order to produce glucose, plants need to capture sufficient light energy. Many modern plants have evolved leaves specialized for light acquisition. Leaves can be only millimeters in width or tens of meters wide, depending on the environment. Due to competition for sunlight, evolution has driven the evolution of increasingly larger leaves and taller plants, to avoid shading by their neighbors with contaminant elaboration of root architecture and mechanisms to transport water and nutrients.

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Most plants use the C3 pathway for carbon fixation. However, some plants, such as sugar cane, corn, and cacti that grow in hot conditions, use alternative pathways to fix carbon and conserve energy loss due to photorespiration. Photorespiration is the process that occurs when the oxygen concentration is high. Under such conditions, the rubisco enzyme in the Calvin cycle binds O2 instead of CO2, which halts photosynthesis and consumes energy.
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...

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Updated: Jun 29, 2025

Author Spotlight: Innovative Approaches to Understanding Plant Structure-Function Relationships for Climate-Resilient Crops

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A multi-cell model for the C₄ photosynthetic pathway in developing wheat grains based upon tissue-specific

Parimalan Rangan¹, Agnelo Furtado², Viswanathan Chinnusamy³

¹ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, PUSA Campus, New Delhi, 110012, India; Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD4072, Australia.

|March 30, 2024

Summary

Wheat developing grains exhibit non-Kranz C4 photosynthesis, a process involving multiple cell and tissue types for refixing respired carbon dioxide (CO2). This NAD-ME subtype photosynthesis requires further biochemical validation.

Keywords:

BOP clade C(4) evolution Kranz anatomy NAD-ME C(4) photosynthesis Non-foliar photosynthesis Refixation Tissue-specific expression

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Area of Science:

Plant Physiology
Molecular Biology
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

C4 photosynthesis, a mechanism to concentrate CO2, is typically found in specific plant groups.
Previous studies suggested non-Kranz C4 photosynthesis in developing wheat grains (14 days post-anthesis) using RNA-seq.
The NAD-ME subtype of C4 photosynthesis was implicated in this wheat grain process.

Purpose of the Study:

To re-examine and validate evidence for C4 photosynthesis in developing wheat grains and Pooideae.
To investigate the evolutionary processes and implications of this non-Kranz C4 photosynthesis.
To propose a model for C4 photosynthesis in wheat grains based on gene expression data.

Main Methods:

Analysis of published transcriptome data (RNA-seq) from wheat grain tissues (outer pericarp, inner pericarp, endosperm).
Evaluation of gene expression profiles for C4- and C3-specific genes.
Quantification of gene expression using RPKM (reads per kilobase per million mapped reads) values.

Main Results:

C4-specific gene expression was observed across outer pericarp, inner pericarp, and endosperm tissues in an ordered manner.
Expression patterns suggest the involvement of all three tissues in NAD-ME-dependent C4 photosynthesis.
A multi-cell, multi-tissue model for C4 photosynthesis in wheat grains is proposed, involving refixation of respired CO2.

Conclusions:

Evidence supports a non-Kranz C4 photosynthetic pathway in developing wheat grains.
The proposed model involves multiple cell types and tissues for CO2 refixation.
Further biochemical validation is necessary to confirm this multi-cell C4 model.