JXB Advance Access originally published online on October 3, 2005
Journal of Experimental Botany 2005 56(421):2777-2782; doi:10.1093/jxb/eri297
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OPINION PAPER |
Is a physiological perspective relevant in a ‘genocentric’ age?*
1Agronomy Physiology Laboratory, PO Box 110965, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0965, USA
2Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas, 1366 W. Altheimer Drive, Fayetteville, AR 72704, USA
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +1 352 392 6139. E-mail: trsincl{at}ifas.ufl.edu
Currently, the major thrust of plant physiology research is to identify and understand the regulation of genes that might be relevant in plant development and growth. The dominance of a genocentric view of plant behaviour has, unfortunately, resulted in the development of major disconnects in the classical view of plant physiology as a partnership between fundamental and practical research contributing to improved plant production. One disconnect is that much of the genocentric research appears to be organized and executed without regard to the practical needs of enhancing plant performance under applied conditions. Although practical benefits from genocentric research are often claimed, basic assumptions guiding much research and the experimental protocols used are commonly not relevant for real-world plant production. A second disconnect is a failure fully to appreciate the lessons learned in 40 years of classical plant physiology research concerning the role of physiological processes in altering whole plant performance. Regulation of plant systems has proved to be complex and redundant. Alteration of a single physiological process is compensated or dampened so that commonly very little change in plant growth and yield results from modification of a single physiological process. Based on a few successful projects employing classical plant physiology to achieve crop yield increase, key characteristics for research projects that truly seek to increase plant performance in production systems are identified. Basically, the partnership between the fundamental and practical research long espoused for plant physiology needs to be re-established in an intimate and meaningful way.
Key words: Classical plant physiology, genocentric research, plant development, plant growth
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