Not just Rubisco: integrated strategies to overcome the biochemical limitations of C₃ photosynthesis.

Authors

Shivasharanappa S Patil, Bagyalakshmi Muthan, Sanju A Sanjaya

Published in

Frontiers in plant science. Volume 17. Pages 1854086. Epub Jul 09, 2026.

Abstract

Photosynthesis is fundamental to global food security, but carbon assimilation efficiency in most C₃ crops remains significantly below its theoretical maximum. Three principal biochemical processes limit photosynthetic performance: ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) catalytic activity, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle, and triose-phosphate utilization (TPU) for sucrose and starch biosynthesis. These constraints, which vary across environmental conditions, are closely linked through carbon metabolism, energy supply, and source-sink regulation. Recent advances in plant physiology, molecular genetics, and synthetic biology have identified new opportunities to address these limitations individually and in concert. In this review, we synthesize recent progress in understanding these three biochemical constraints and evaluate strategies to address these constraints through coordinated genetic and metabolic engineering. Future improvements in crop productivity will require integrated approaches that simultaneously optimize carboxylation capacity, electron transport, and end-product utilization while maintaining metabolic equilibrium in crops under field conditions.

PMID:
42494625
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 17 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.