Table Of ContentAshwani Kumar
Yuan-Yeu Yau
Shinjiro Ogita
Renate Scheibe Editors
Climate Change,
Photosynthesis
and Advanced
Biofuels
The Role of Biotechnology in
the Production of Value-added Plant
Bio-products
Climate Change, Photosynthesis
and Advanced Biofuels
(cid:129) (cid:129)
Ashwani Kumar Yuan-Yeu Yau
(cid:129)
Shinjiro Ogita Renate Scheibe
Editors
Climate Change,
Photosynthesis
and Advanced Biofuels
The Role of Biotechnology in the
Production of Value-added Plant
Bio-products
Editors
AshwaniKumar Yuan-YeuYau
DepartmentofBotany DepartmentofNaturalSciences
andP.G.SchoolofBiotechnology NortheasternStateUniversity
UniversityofRajasthan BrokenArrow,OK,USA
Jaipur,Rajasthan,India
ShinjiroOgita RenateScheibe
FacultyofLifeandEnvironmental FacultyofBiologyandChemistry,
Sciences,DepartmentofLifeSciences PlantPhysiology
PrefecturalUniversityofHiroshima UniversityofOsnabrück
Syoubara,Hiroshima,Japan Osnabrück,Niedersachsen,Germany
ISBN978-981-15-5227-4 ISBN978-981-15-5228-1 (eBook)
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Dedication
Govindjee,MisterPhotosynthesis
—Anextraordinaryambassadorofphotosynthesisresearchtotheworld
A2019photographofGovindjee.Source:CollegeofLiberalArts&Sciences,UniversityofIllinois
atUrbana-Champaign
Since 2019, Govindjee (who had always used one name only) began to use
“Govindjee Govindjee” in order to be able to travel with ease around the world.
He was born on October 24, 1932, at Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India; he married
RajniVarmaonOctober24,1957,atUrbana,Illinois,USA;theyhavetwochildren:
Anita and Sanjay; he was naturalized to be a citizen of the USA in 1972. On the
academic side, he has been Professor Emeritus of Plant Biology, Biophysics, and
Biochemistry,attheUniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign(UIUC)since1999.
Goingbackintime,hewasProfessorofBiophysicsandPlantBiologyfor30years
(1969–1999), Associate Professor of Botany and Biophysics (1965–1969), and
Assistant Professor of Botany (1961–1965), all at UIUC. During 1960–1961, he
served as United States Public Health (USPH) Service Biophysics Post-Doctoral
Fellow,andduringhisPhDdays,1956–1960,heheldaUIUCGraduateFellowship
in Physico-Chemical Biology (Biophysics), as well a research assistantship in
Botanyearlier,i.e.,during1954–1956,hetaughtPlantPhysiologyintheDepartment
of Botany at Allahabad University. He was trained first, during his MSc (1952–
1954), in Plant Physiology, by Shri Ranjan, who was a student of Frederick Frost
vv
vi Dedication
Blackman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Blackman). During his PhD
(1956–1960), he was trained by Robert Emerson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Robert_Emerson_(scientist)), a student of the 1931 Nobel laureate Otto Warburg
(https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1931/warburg/biographical/), and by
Eugene Rabinowitch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Rabinowitch), a post-
doc student of 1926 Nobel laureate James Franck (https://www.nobelprize.org/
prizes/physics/1925/franck/biographical/). After his PhD, and while he was on
UIUC faculty, he also did collaborative research in several top photosynthesis
laboratories, e.g., that of Bessel Kok (RIAS, Baltimore, MD, USA); C. Stacy
French (Carnegie Institution of Science, Stanford, CA, USA); Jean Lavorel &
Martin Kamen (CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France); Louis N.M. Duysens (University
of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands); and Horst Witt (Technical University,
Berlin, Germany).
Govindjeehasreceivedmanyscholarships,fellowships,andhasbeenrecognized
byseveralsocieties.ThelistincludesFulbrightLectureAward;JapaneseSocietyfor
Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellow; Fellow of the American Association for the
AdvancementofScience(AAAS);FellowandLifeMemberoftheNationalAcad-
emy of Science, India; President, American Society of Photobiology; Honorary
President, International Photosynthesis Congress, Montreal, Canada; honored for
his“LifetimeContributionsintheFieldofPhotosynthesis,”bytheIndianSocietyof
Photobiology;thefirstLifetimeAchievementAwardinBasicBiology,TheRebeiz
Foundation;theCommunicationAwardoftheInternationalSocietyofPhotosynthe-
sis Research (ISPR); The Professor B.M. Johri Memorial Award for outstanding
plant scientists; and (Pravasi) Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural
Science,India.
Last but not least is his love for teaching which includes drama (outdoors or
indoors)wherestudentsplaytheroleofmoleculesinvolvedinelectron(andproton)
transportfromwatertoNADP,andinmakingATP(seePhotosynthReshttps://doi.
org/10.1007/s11120-016-0317-z, and https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-014-0034-4).
Further, for education around the world, he provides posters linked from his main
web page: http://www.life.illinois.edu/govindjee/ (prepared by D. Shevela &
coauthors)forteachingphotosynthesis.
For further information on Govindjee and his life, see, e.g., http://www.life.
illinois.edu/govindjee/recent_papers.html; https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/
801235; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v¼cOzuL0vxEi0; and https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v¼OBKusHcjMzw
We,theeditorsofthisvolume,whichfocusesonnewdevelopments inbiofuels
andsustainableenergy,basedonphotosynthesisandrelatedprocesses,dedicatethis
booktoProfessorEmeritusGovindjee,oneofthemostrespectedauthoritiesinthe
field of photosynthesis. He had contributed the Foreword for the previous volume
entitled“Biofuels:GreenhouseGasMitigationandGlobalWarming—NextGener-
ationBiofuelsandRoleofBiotechnology.”Backin2017,theeditorspointedoutthat
his outstanding contributions in the field of photosynthesis, in particular on the
capture of light, energy conversion in the “light reactions,” and electron transport
(that uniquely requires bicarbonate), are fundamental for the development and
Dedication vii
distribution of this basic knowledge. This time, we wish to acknowledge his
continued interest and engagement and congratulate him on his 88th birthday in
theyear2020.
Jaipur,Rajasthan,India AshwaniKumar
BrokenArrow,OK,USA Yuan-YeuYau
Syoubara,Hiroshima,Japan ShinjiroOgita
Osnabrück,Niedersachsen,Germany RenateScheibe
Foreword
Climatechangethreatenshumanwelfareataglobalscale.Dependingonthedegree
oftemperaturerise,itmustbeexpectedthatweatherextremesinthefuturebecome
evenmorefrequentandmoreextremethanrecentlyexperienced.Droughtresulting
inforestfires, soilsalinity, anddesertificationontheonehandandflooding onthe
otherhandaretwosidesofthecoin.Thecauseinbothcasesisanincreaseofthermal
energy in the atmosphere due to the greenhouse effect. Among other greenhouse
gasessuchasmethane,ozone,andnitrousoxide,carbondioxideplaysaprominent
role,contributingabout50%totheglobaltemperatureincrease.Sincethebeginning
of industrialization and the increasing combustion of fossil fuels, atmospheric
carbon dioxide concentration has increased from 0.028% to more than 0.04%. In
preindustrial times,the carbon dioxide concentration was inequilibrium, governed
by four major processes: respiration and diffusion of carbon dioxide out of oceans
releasingabout210gigatonsofcarbonperyear,whereasdiffusionofcarbondioxide
into oceans and photosynthesis balanced carbon dioxide release. Human activities
increasingly caused higher carbon dioxide release, mainly due to the burning of
fossilfuelsanddeforestation.Althoughpartoftheestimated10gigatonsadditional
liberation of carbon dioxide is compensated by photosynthesis and diffusion into
oceans,thereisanetexcessofroughly5gigatonscarbonannuallyreleasedintothe
atmosphere.
The net diffusion of carbon dioxide into oceans provokes another problem; the
dissolutionofcarbondioxideinwaterformscarbonicacidthatdecreasespHofthe
seawater. This in turn may harm sensitive marine life particularly in coral reefs.
Thus,photosynthesisistheonlysignificantprocessthatcontributestoasustainable
reductionofcarbondioxideconcentrationintheatmosphere.Presently,123gigatons
of carbon are annually consumed by photosynthesis. An increase of global photo-
synthesisby5%wouldmorethancompensatetheadditionalanthropogeniccarbon
dioxiderelease.Besidesabandoningtheconsumptionoffossilfuels,(re)forestation
and the use of renewable resources are key measures to limit further net release of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Large areas worldwide are available for sus-
tainableplantproductiononhithertobarrenland.
In the present book “Climate change, photosynthesis, and advanced biofuels:
Roleofbiotechnologyinproductionofvalue-addedplantproducts,”scientistsfrom
all over the world report their research results how photosynthesis may better
iixx
x Foreword
contribute to the withdrawal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The plant
endeavor to collect carbon dioxide from a very low concentration and divert it to
the various products is an extremely efficient process that has been genetically
optimized during millions of years of evolution. However, with the development
ofcropplants,ithasalsobecomeapparentthatsurvivalandpropagationarenotthe
main goals when plants are cultivated for food, feed, fiber, and fuel. Research on
resistance against abiotic stresses, resource efficiency, as well as source-sink
relationships has revealed that plants usually do not conduct photosynthesis at
maximumintensitybutwithadownregulatedrate.Thishelpstoavoidtheaccumu-
lationofmetabolitesthatmaycompromisemetabolism.Atleastfiveprocesseshelp
tocompensateexcessphotosynthesisrelativetoassimilateconsumptioninorderto
avoid the formation of reactive oxygen species that may impair nucleic acids and
membranes:
1. Alternative respiration is less efficient in ATP production than conventional
respirationandreleasesthermalenergy.
2. Also,uncouplingproteinshelpstodissipatesomeoftheexcessenergyintheform
ofheat.
3. PhotorespirationofC plantsconsumesexcessenergybyreleasingammoniaand
3
carbondioxide.
4. Rootexudatesthatmobilizenutrientsintherhizosphereandsupportthetranslo-
cation of signals into roots via phloem may reach as much as 30–40% of all
photoassimilates.
5. Finally, even in unstressed situations plants may release as much as 10% of
photoassimilatesviavolatilizationofterpenesandsimilarcompounds.
Consequently,incropplantsthereisalargereservoirofphotosyntheticpotential
thatisnotutilizedintheproduction ofgenerativestorage organs.Evenforvegeta-
tively utilized fodder plants, there is evidence that sink activity rather than photo-
synthetic activity limits yield. Unraveling the bottlenecks during the establishment
ofsinkactivitywillgreatlyhelptodivertmoreassimilatesintostorageorganssuch
as grains, tubers, or beets. This, at the same time, will allow to enhance net
photosynthesis, water, and nutrient efficiency, as well as crop yields. Sustainable
production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel for an ever-growing word population is a
continuingbutfeasiblegoalthatatthesametimemaycontributetomitigateclimate
change.
Thisbookprovidesvaluableinformation,andIhopeitwillmeettheexpectations
ofresearchers,students,anddecision-makersalikeonthesubjectofclimatechange
andrelatedmatters.Ihighlyrecommendthebook.
InstituteofPlantNutrition,JustusLiebigUniversity SvenSchubert
Giessen,Germany
Foreword xi
Prof.Dr.SvenSchubertstudiedagriculturalsciencesatJustusLiebigUniversity
Giessen,Germany. In1985,hegothis Ph.D.inagriculturewithathesis onproton
exudationbyplant roots under theguidanceofProf.Dr.Drs.h.c.KonradMengel.
AfterapostdocyearattheUniversityofCaliforniainDavis,USA,withProf.Dr.Dr.
h.c. André Läuchli, Prof. Schubert finalized his habilitation on mechanisms of salt
resistanceinmaizeplantsin1991.FollowingacalltotheUniversityofHohenheim,
Germany, in 1992, he spent 5 years as Professor for Plant Nutrition in Stuttgart
before he was appointed Chair of the Institute of Plant Nutrition at Justus Liebig
University Giessen in 1997. His main research areas are nutrient acquisition of
plants, salt and acidity stress, and membrane biochemistry. Besides more than
120 refereed publications and 100 further publications, Prof. Schubert is author of
the two German textbooks Pflanzenernährung (Plant Nutrition) and Biochemie
(Biochemistry).
Selected Publications:
YanF,ZhuY,MüllerC,ZörbC,SchubertS(2002)AdaptationofH+-pumpingand
plasma membrane H+ ATPase activity in proteoid roots of white lupin under
phosphatedeficiency.PlantPhysiol129:50–63
QadirM,OsterJD,SchubertS,NobleAD,SahrawatKL(2007)Phytoremediationof
sodicandsaline-sodicsoils.AdvAgron96:197–247
Hatzig S, Kumar A, Neubert A, Schubert S (2010) PEP-carboxylase activity: a
comparison of its role in a C and a C species under salt stress. J Agron Crop
4 3
Sci196:185–192
HansteinS,WangX,QianX,Friedhoff P,Fatima A,ShanY,FengK,Schubert S
(2011) Changesincytosolic Mg2+levelscan regulate theactivity ofthe plasma
membraneH+-ATPaseinmaize.BiochemJ435:93–101
HütschBW,OsthushenrichT,FaustF,KumarA,SchubertS(2016)Reducedsink
activityingrowingshoottissuesofmaize(Zeamays)undersaltstressofthefirst
phasecanbecompensatedbyincreasedPEP-carboxylaseactivity.JAgronCrop
Sci202:384–393
Faust F, Schubert S (2017) In vitro protein synthesis of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris)
andmaize(Zeamays)isdifferentiallyinhibitedwhenpotassiumissubstitutedby
sodium.PlantPhysiolBiochem118:228–234
