LAUSR

Crop leaves in full sunlight dissipate damaging excess absorbed light energy as heat. This protective dissipation continues after the leaf transitions to shade, reducing crop photosynthesis. A bioengineered acceleration of this adjustment increased photosynthetic efficiency and biomass in tobacco in the field. But could that also translate to increased yield in a food crop? Here we bioengineered the same change into soybean. In replicated field trials, photosynthetic efficiency in fluctuating light was higher and seed yield in five independent transformation events increased by up to 33%. Despite increased seed quantity, seed protein and oil content were unaltered. This validates increasing photosynthetic efficiency as a much needed strategy toward sustainably increasing crop yield in support of future global food security. Description More soybeans by light management Plants protect themselves from too much sun by dissipating excess light energy. Unfortunately, the switch from dissipating light energy to using light energy for photosynthesis is not as nimble as the clouds moving across the sky. De Souza et al. applied a bioengineered solution that speeds up accommodation by nonphotochemical quenching in soybeans, a widely cultivated and essential crop. In field trials, seed yield increased in some cases up to 33%. —PJH Bioengineering to improve regulation of photoprotection increases photosynthetic efficiency and seed yield in soybean.