Temperature, photosynthesis, and rubisco: biochemistry and physiology of land plant productivity in response to global change

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Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use solar energy to convert CO2 into biomass. Photosynthesis is the energetic basis of essentially all terrestrial and aquatic food webs, and produces food, fuel, shelter, and other materials that sustain human civilization. The basic metabolism is well known, but crucial aspects of how photosynthesis responds to the abiotic environment are unclear. For example, there are multiple hypotheses about why photosynthetic rates decline above a certain optimum temperature. Further, Rubisco, the enzyme that actually catalyses CO2 uptake, is a poor catalyst compared to most other enzymes, but our understanding of of the subtle relationships between its function and structure is in its infancy. Moreover, Rubisco has been characterized from very few species, and presently we model future crop and forest yields using constants that may be ill-suited to the purpose.