Temperature-induced dynamics of plant carbohydrate metabolism

Carbohydrates are direct products of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation. Within a changing temperature regime, both photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism need tight regulation to prevent irreversible damage of plant tissue and to sustain energy metabolism, growth and development. Due to climate change, plants are and will be exposed to both long-term and short-term temperature changes with increasing amplitude. Particularly sudden fluctuations, which might comprise a large temperature amplitude from low to high temperature, pose a challenge for plants from the cellular to the ecosystem level. A detailed understanding of fundamental regulatory processes, which link photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism under such fluctuating environmental conditions, is essential for an estimate of climate change consequences. Further, understanding these processes is important for biotechnological application, breeding and engineering. Environmental light and temperature regimes are sensed by a molecular network that comprises photoreceptors and molecular components of the circadian clock. Photosynthetic efficiency and plant productivity then critically depend on enzymatic regulation and regulatory circuits connecting plant cells with their environment and re-stabilising photosynthetic efficiency and carbohydrate metabolism after temperature-induced deflection. This review summarises and integrates current knowledge about re-stabilisation of photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism after perturbation by changing temperature (heat and cold).

Automated summary

In the face of changing climate conditions, plants need to regulate photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism tightly to maintain growth and development. An in-depth understanding of the regulatory processes linking photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism is essential for estimating the consequences of climate change.