Redesigning photosynthesis to sustainably meet global food and bioenergy demand

TLDR

Crop productivity is stagnating while population growth, rising affluence, and biofuel mandates increase demand, and expanding cropland conflicts with sustainability goals. Increasing photosynthetic efficiency and productivity in crop plants is essential to meet this challenge. The authors examine a range of redesigns from simple, evidence‑supported tweaks to conceptual synthetic‑biology‑enabled overhauls aimed at boosting photosynthetic performance. While some redesigns may face obstacles, the research is expected to yield discoveries and technical advances that could significantly improve crop productivity and bioenergy production.

Abstract

The world’s crop productivity is stagnating whereas population growth, rising affluence, and mandates for biofuels put increasing demands on agriculture. Meanwhile, demand for increasing cropland competes with equally crucial global sustainability and environmental protection needs. Addressing this looming agricultural crisis will be one of our greatest scientific challenges in the coming decades, and success will require substantial improvements at many levels. We assert that increasing the efficiency and productivity of photosynthesis in crop plants will be essential if this grand challenge is to be met. Here, we explore an array of prospective redesigns of plant systems at various scales, all aimed at increasing crop yields through improved photosynthetic efficiency and performance. Prospects range from straightforward alterations, already supported by preliminary evidence of feasibility, to substantial redesigns that are currently only conceptual, but that may be enabled by new developments in synthetic biology. Although some proposed redesigns are certain to face obstacles that will require alternate routes, the efforts should lead to new discoveries and technical advances with important impacts on the global problem of crop productivity and bioenergy production.