"Optimising photosynthetic performance in strawberries using blue light"

在过去100年里，全球用水量增长了6倍，是人口的两倍，预计在2030年前将再翻一番，这主要是由灌溉和农业推动的。仅在英国，灌溉用水量在过去30年里就增长了10倍，而且这一趋势将继续下去。此外，预计到21世纪末，全球气温将平均上升2.7摄氏度，导致树叶/树冠温度上升，对蒸发冷却的需求增加。气孔蒸腾是预期的水供应和作物生产危机的核心。由于气孔行为影响光合作用、水分利用和叶温，保卫细胞是一个未开发但重要的研究目标，以(I)在缺水条件下改善植物水分利用，或在水分供应不受限制的热胁迫下调整蒸发冷却以优化叶温。气孔张开以响应增加的光合作用有效辐射(PAR)。然而，保卫细胞也表现出一种特殊的“蓝”光反应，当蓝光强度太低时，这种反应会增加气孔导度，从而不能驱动净光合作用。作为浆果花园资助的泵启动项目的一部分，获得的初步数据表明，在建立阶段进行蓝光预处理可能会在本季节晚些时候导致光合作用速率增加。

Globally, water usage has increased 6-fold in the past 100 years, twice as fast as the human population, and is forecast to double again before 2030, driven mainly by irrigation and agriculture. In the UK alone, the volume of irrigation water has risen 10-fold in the past 30 years and this trend is set to continue. Additionally, global temperature is predicted to rise by an average 2.7oC by the end of the 21st century, resulting in increased leaf/canopy temperature and a greater need for evaporative cooling. Stomatal transpiration is central to the expected crisis in water availability and crop production. Since stomatal behaviour influences photosynthesis, water use and leaf temperature, guard cells are an unexploited but important target for study to (i) improve plant water use under conditions of water shortage or adjust evaporative cooling to optimise leaf temperatures under heat stress where water availability is not limited. Stomata open in response to increasing photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). However, guard cells also exhibit a specific "blue" light response that increases stomatal conductance at intensities of blue light too low o drive net photosynthesis. Preliminary data obtained as part of a Berry Gardens funded pump-priming project suggested that blue light pre-treatment during the establishment phase could result in increased rates of photosynthesis later in the season.