It is well understood that apicomplexan parasites, such as the malaria pathogen Plasmodium, are descended from free-living algae, and maintain a vestigial chloroplast that has secondarily lost all genes of photosynthetic function. Recently, two fully photosynthetic relatives of parasitic apicomplexans have been identified, the 'chromerid' algae Chromera velia and Vitrella brassicaformis, which ...

Photosynthesis is an essential biological process and a key approach for raising crop yield. However, photosynthesis in rice not fully investigated. This study reported the photosynthetic properties transcriptomic profiles of chlorophyll (Chl) b-deficient mutant (ch11) wild-type (Oryza sativa L.). Chl revealed irregular chloroplast development (indistinct membranes, loss starch granules, thinne...

Abstract Background Leaf color mutants are the ideal materials to explore pathways of chlorophyll (Chl) metabolism, chloroplast development, and photosynthesis system. In this study, a spontaneous yellow-green leaf wucai ( Brassica campestris L.) mutant “WY16–13” was identified, which exhibited during its entire growth period. However, current understanding molecular mechanism underlying Chl me...

To examine the interactions of starch and sugar metabolism on photosynthesis in cassava, a heat-girdling treatment was applied to petioles of cassava leaves at the end of the light cycle to inhibit starch remobilization during the night. The inhibition of starch remobilization caused significant starch accumulation at the beginning of the light cycle, inhibited photosynthesis, and affected intr...

The photochemical reflectance index (PRI) is determined from canopy spectral reflectance measurements and can provide important information about photosynthesis. The PRI can be used to assess the epoxidation state of xanthophyll pigments, which provides information on nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) and the amount of energy used for photosynthesis. Genome-wide association analyses were conduct...

Living cells use a variety of regulatory network motifs for accurate gene expression in response to changes in their environment or during differentiation processes. In Rhodobacter sphaeroides, a complex regulatory network controls expression of photosynthesis genes to guarantee optimal energy supply on one hand and to avoid photooxidative stress on the other hand. Recently, we identified a mix...