A comprehensive computational pipeline quantifying wheat foliar, non-foliar and canopy photosynthesis.
Canopy photosynthesis is the basis of plant growth and yield. The complex nature of canopy photosynthesis requires a mechanistic modeling. However, characterization of non-foliar photosynthesis in a canopy, and a rigid comparison between the model predictions and direct experimental measurements are still in scarce, which hinder the validity and use of canopy models. We develop a comprehensive platform for canopy photosynthetic efficiency research by integrating the state-of-the-art gas exchange measurement facilities, computational models and model parameterization routes. This framework precisely predicts wheat canopy gas exchange at different growth stages and under different weather. This framework enables us to systematically study 1) the photosynthetic roles of both foliar and non-foliar organs in the canopy; 2) responses of canopy photosynthesis upon changing the plant architectural parameters, physiological parameters and ecological factors. Specifically, we find that 1) spike photosynthesis and stem photosynthesis contribute ~15% and ~10% of diurnal canopy photosynthesis, respectively; 2) at the flowering stage, increase of daily temperature by 2 oC may result in ~10% decrease in daily canopy photosynthate accumulation; 3) covariation in tissue respiratory rate and photosynthetic rate may be a key factor compromises the conversion from tissue photosynthetic capacity to daily canopy photosynthate accumulation. Overall, this framework provides a novel tool to systematically study canopy photosynthesis and guide rational design of crops with improved canopy radiation use efficiency.
Here we release the comprehensive computational pipeline quantifying wheat foliar, non-foliar and canopy photosynthesis, 3dCAP-wheat, which effectively combines 3D canopy architecture extraction and reconstruction, canopy vertical nitrogen distribution, ray tracing algorithm and leaf photosynthesis model.
Download the project and run the pipeline following the guide in “3dCAP-wheat User manual.docx” provided in the main directory.