Optimizing Photosynthesis for Traits Improvement: Genetic Basis and Molecular Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

Global crop yields are stagnating or slowing as global climate change and population growth put rising demands on agricultural productivity. Photosynthesis, which captures and stores sunlight as an energy source to sustain virtually all life forms, is one of the most important photochemical reactions on Earth. Increasing the photosynthetic efficiency and performance of plants represents a key strategy as well as one of the remaining routes to improve crop yield potential. Therefore, it is imperative to accelerate our understanding of the genetic basis of plant photosynthetic processes for targeted and precise improvements of the current crops and breeding of future crops. In this Special Issue, investigations or reviews of any of the strategies (CRISPR, QTL mapping, GWAS, omics, big data mining, etc.) that identify and characterize genes/QTLs and novel/superior alleles, generate new germplasm resources or construct new technological systems to dissect mechanisms or improvements of any agronomic traits that impact photosynthesis in crops are preferred. In addition, studies on gene function and molecular mechanisms of photosynthetic regulation in model plants including Arabidopsis fall within this broad scope. Submissions of original research articles, reviews, resources, technologies and perspectives are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Jun Liu
Dr. Qingtao Lu
Guest Editors

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• photosynthesis
• photosynthetic efficiency
• crops
• agronomic traits
• yield improvement
• stress tolerance
• technology