Combining 11C with cutting-edge plant measurements to unravel plant carbon dynamics in current and future climates

Unveiling the mechanism(s) responsible for allocation of carbon to various plant organs for growth, storage or simply for maintenance, is one of the greatest challenges of modern plant science. The balance between these various options has profound consequences for a plant’s development, its suitability for its environment and its harvest yield. It is therefore vital to discover how these options are coordinated. The current research proposal will explore many of the unknowns of how recently fixed photosynthates are distributed throughout the entire plant for both crop and tree species in current and changing climate conditions. To this end, the powerful 11C radiotracer technique will be used, which enables in vivo measurements of carbon flows and, hence, nondestructive
observations of carbohydrate distribution changes during development or environmental
stress. Observations of the dynamic behaviour of 11C movement represent an untapped resource and will deepen our fundamental knowledge about the coordination of carbohydrate flows in plants. The project is also unique in the sense that 11C tracing will be combined simultaneously with other online plant measurements, such as sap flow, stem/ fruit growth dynamics, photosynthesis and respiration, which will provide unprecedented results and insights. The outcome of this project will therefore lead to a mechanistic basis for understanding plant carbon dynamics and new practices throughout plant research.