Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C                         3                          and C                         4                          Crops

Andrew D.B. Leakey; John N. Ferguson; Charles P. Pignon; Alex Wu; Zhenong Jin; Graeme L. Hammer; David B. Lobell

doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305

Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C ₃ and C ₄ Crops

Andrew D.B. Leakey, John N. Ferguson, Charles P. Pignon, Alex Wu, Zhenong Jin, Graeme L. Hammer, David B. Lobell

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

172 Scopus citations

Abstract

The ratio of plant carbon gain to water use, known as water use efficiency (WUE), has long been recognized as a key constraint on crop production and an important target for crop improvement. WUE is a physiologically and genetically complex trait that can be defined at a range of scales. Many component traits directly influence WUE, including photosynthesis, stomatal and mesophyll conductances, and canopy structure. Interactions of carbon and water relations with diverse aspects of the environment and crop development also modulate WUE. As a consequence, enhancing WUE by breeding or biotechnology has proven challenging but not impossible. This review aims to synthesize new knowledge of WUE arising from advances in phenotyping, modeling, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology in the context of classical theoretical principles. In addition, we discuss how rising atmospheric CO ₂ concentration has created and will continue to create opportunities for enhancing WUE by modifying the trade-off between photosynthesis and transpiration.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	781-808
Number of pages	28
Journal	Annual Review of Plant Biology
Volume	70
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305
State	Published - Apr 2019
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The modeling work conducted by A.W. and G.L.H. is supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CE1401000015) and funded by the Australian government. The work of A.D.B.L., J.N.F., and C.P.P. was supported by award numbers DE-SC0008769, DE-AR0000661, and DE-SC0018277 from the US Department of Energy and grant number PGR-1238030 from the Directorate of Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation. We thank Margaret Barbour, Elizabete Carmo-Silva, Christine Edwards, Phillip Jackson, Thomas Juenger, Mohankumar Kapanigowda, and Xinguang Zhu for sharing photosynthetic gas exchange data. We thank Annual Reviews staff for assistance with graphic design and copyediting.

Keywords

biomass
drought tolerance
photosynthesis
stomata
transpiration
yield

Access

10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

Leakey, A. D. B., Ferguson, J. N., Pignon, C. P., Wu, A., Jin, Z., Hammer, G. L., & Lobell, D. B. (2019). Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C ₃ and C ₄ Crops Annual Review of Plant Biology, 70, 781-808. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305

Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C ₃ and C ₄ Crops . / Leakey, Andrew D.B.; Ferguson, John N.; Pignon, Charles P. et al.
In: Annual Review of Plant Biology, Vol. 70, 04.2019, p. 781-808.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Leakey, ADB, Ferguson, JN, Pignon, CP, Wu, A, Jin, Z, Hammer, GL & Lobell, DB 2019, ' Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C ₃ and C ₄ Crops ', Annual Review of Plant Biology, vol. 70, pp. 781-808. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305

Leakey ADB, Ferguson JN, Pignon CP, Wu A, Jin Z, Hammer GL et al. Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C ₃ and C ₄ Crops Annual Review of Plant Biology. 2019 Apr;70:781-808. doi: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305

Leakey, Andrew D.B. ; Ferguson, John N. ; Pignon, Charles P. et al. / Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C ₃ and C ₄ Crops In: Annual Review of Plant Biology. 2019 ; Vol. 70. pp. 781-808.

@article{f21a60c5b8624b6cae7e303ee693a2b4,

title = " Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C 3 and C 4 Crops ",

abstract = " The ratio of plant carbon gain to water use, known as water use efficiency (WUE), has long been recognized as a key constraint on crop production and an important target for crop improvement. WUE is a physiologically and genetically complex trait that can be defined at a range of scales. Many component traits directly influence WUE, including photosynthesis, stomatal and mesophyll conductances, and canopy structure. Interactions of carbon and water relations with diverse aspects of the environment and crop development also modulate WUE. As a consequence, enhancing WUE by breeding or biotechnology has proven challenging but not impossible. This review aims to synthesize new knowledge of WUE arising from advances in phenotyping, modeling, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology in the context of classical theoretical principles. In addition, we discuss how rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration has created and will continue to create opportunities for enhancing WUE by modifying the trade-off between photosynthesis and transpiration. ",

keywords = "biomass, drought tolerance, photosynthesis, stomata, transpiration, yield",

author = "Leakey, {Andrew D.B.} and Ferguson, {John N.} and Pignon, {Charles P.} and Alex Wu and Zhenong Jin and Hammer, {Graeme L.} and Lobell, {David B.}",

note = "Funding Information: The modeling work conducted by A.W. and G.L.H. is supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CE1401000015) and funded by the Australian government. The work of A.D.B.L., J.N.F., and C.P.P. was supported by award numbers DE-SC0008769, DE-AR0000661, and DE-SC0018277 from the US Department of Energy and grant number PGR-1238030 from the Directorate of Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation. We thank Margaret Barbour, Elizabete Carmo-Silva, Christine Edwards, Phillip Jackson, Thomas Juenger, Mohankumar Kapanigowda, and Xinguang Zhu for sharing photosynthetic gas exchange data. We thank Annual Reviews staff for assistance with graphic design and copyediting.",

year = "2019",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "70",

pages = "781--808",

journal = "Annual Review of Plant Biology",

issn = "1543-5008",

publisher = "Annual Reviews Inc.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Water Use Efficiency as a Constraint and Target for Improving the Resilience and Productivity of C 3 and C 4 Crops

AU - Leakey, Andrew D.B.

AU - Ferguson, John N.

AU - Pignon, Charles P.

AU - Wu, Alex

AU - Jin, Zhenong

AU - Hammer, Graeme L.

AU - Lobell, David B.

N1 - Funding Information: The modeling work conducted by A.W. and G.L.H. is supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CE1401000015) and funded by the Australian government. The work of A.D.B.L., J.N.F., and C.P.P. was supported by award numbers DE-SC0008769, DE-AR0000661, and DE-SC0018277 from the US Department of Energy and grant number PGR-1238030 from the Directorate of Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation. We thank Margaret Barbour, Elizabete Carmo-Silva, Christine Edwards, Phillip Jackson, Thomas Juenger, Mohankumar Kapanigowda, and Xinguang Zhu for sharing photosynthetic gas exchange data. We thank Annual Reviews staff for assistance with graphic design and copyediting.

PY - 2019/4

Y1 - 2019/4

N2 - The ratio of plant carbon gain to water use, known as water use efficiency (WUE), has long been recognized as a key constraint on crop production and an important target for crop improvement. WUE is a physiologically and genetically complex trait that can be defined at a range of scales. Many component traits directly influence WUE, including photosynthesis, stomatal and mesophyll conductances, and canopy structure. Interactions of carbon and water relations with diverse aspects of the environment and crop development also modulate WUE. As a consequence, enhancing WUE by breeding or biotechnology has proven challenging but not impossible. This review aims to synthesize new knowledge of WUE arising from advances in phenotyping, modeling, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology in the context of classical theoretical principles. In addition, we discuss how rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration has created and will continue to create opportunities for enhancing WUE by modifying the trade-off between photosynthesis and transpiration.

AB - The ratio of plant carbon gain to water use, known as water use efficiency (WUE), has long been recognized as a key constraint on crop production and an important target for crop improvement. WUE is a physiologically and genetically complex trait that can be defined at a range of scales. Many component traits directly influence WUE, including photosynthesis, stomatal and mesophyll conductances, and canopy structure. Interactions of carbon and water relations with diverse aspects of the environment and crop development also modulate WUE. As a consequence, enhancing WUE by breeding or biotechnology has proven challenging but not impossible. This review aims to synthesize new knowledge of WUE arising from advances in phenotyping, modeling, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology in the context of classical theoretical principles. In addition, we discuss how rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration has created and will continue to create opportunities for enhancing WUE by modifying the trade-off between photosynthesis and transpiration.

KW - biomass

KW - drought tolerance

KW - photosynthesis

KW - stomata

KW - transpiration

KW - yield

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065101560&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85065101560&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305

DO - 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305

M3 - Review article

C2 - 31035829

AN - SCOPUS:85065101560

SN - 1543-5008

VL - 70

SP - 781

EP - 808

JO - Annual Review of Plant Biology

JF - Annual Review of Plant Biology

ER -