Crop Photosynthesis: Today’s Challenge for Our Future
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant-Crop Biology and Biochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 752
Special Issue Editors
Interests: photosynthesis; photoprotection; light harvesting; algae; higher plants; mechanisms of abiotic stress resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: photosynthesis; photoprotection; non-photochemical-quenching; light harvesting; heterologous expression; microalgae for sustainability; microalgae for high value molecules production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: photosynthesis; photoprotection; non-photochemical-quenching; Arabidopsis; genome editing; light harvesting; heterologous expression
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Modern agriculture must address the increasing global demand for food. Among all of the possible targets to improve crop yield, photosynthesis stands out as a plant trait that remains significantly below its theoretical efficiency limit. Current solar energy to biomass conversion rates in field conditions are estimated to be lower than 1% (with an effective yield depending on the species). Enhancing crop photosynthesis presents a compelling challenge for modern scientists, requiring interdisciplinary collaboration across agronomy, biology, biotechnology, genetics, biophysics, and computational biology. Additionally, socioeconomic factors such as public resistance to genetically modified crops and unequal access to advanced technologies must be addressed, as they hinder the global implementation of these innovations.
This Special Issue seeks contributions that explore various aspects of the photosynthetic process aimed at improving photosynthetic efficiency in crops or enhancing plant productivity more broadly. Submissions are welcome in the form of original research articles, reviews, modelling studies, and methodological papers. These works may focus on topics ranging from molecular-level mechanisms to field-scale applications, encompassing areas such as biochemistry, physiology, genetics, evolutionary studies, and field trials involving both model and crop plants.
Prof. Dr. Luca Dall'Osto
Dr. Alberta Pinnola
Dr. Zeno Guardini
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- bioengineering
- crop improvement
- stress tolerance
- agronomy
- physiology
- genetics
- global warming
- photorespiration
- C3-C4-CAM plants
- non-photochemical quenching
- RuBisCO
- light-harvesting complexes
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