Models of Photosynthesis
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: Our model of photosynthesis (8) published some 20 years ago in Planta has had an impact and seen application that far exceeded our expectations. Perhaps it is useful to reflect on what this model did and why we published it. It is important to note that our model is not a complete model of photosynthesis. It makes no attempt to treat all of the steps in this important process; rather, it was a synthesis, a simplified view of the already (in 1980) overwhelming knowledge of the contributing mechanisms. In the years preceding our model a great body of work had accumulated describing the responses of CO2 exchange by leaves to a wide range of environmental conditions (temperature, CO2 concentration, light intensity, humidity, and oxygen concentration). These responses were quite reproducible, but difficult to explain. Pieces began to fall into place that informed our ignorance. Perhaps the pivotal event was the finding by George Bowes and Bill Ogren that O2 was a competitive inhibitor of CO2 fixation by Rubisco and an alternative substrate leading to a side reaction that fueled photorespiration. Others added findings that integrated photorespiration into photosynthetic carbon metabolism. This synthesis provided a plausible explanation of the manifold interactions between O2 and CO2 on the photosynthesis of leaves.
Source: PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1104/pp.125.1.42
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2123413617