NEWS FROM
PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM
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Published monthly on behalf of SPPS by Wiley-Blackwell.
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Shedding light in the canopy
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Since plants get most of their light from above, photosynthetic activity is highest in the upper part of the canopy. Applying light directly into the canopy might, accordingly, contribute to a more uniform photosynthetic profile and could potentially increase overall photosynthesis leading to higher yield of crops. This hypothesis has now been tested by Dutch researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. They supplied cucumber plants grown in the greenhouse with 38% of their light from LEDs within the canopy and compared them with controls that got all the light from above. Light from within the canopy significantly increased photosynthesis in the lower leaf layers, however, this was not followed by a concomitant increase in overall biomass and fruit yield. This was apparently caused by a more stunted growth when less light came from above and because the LEDs seemingly caused the leaves to curl and thus reduced light interception.
Read full article free: Trouwborst et al (March 2010) Physiologia Plantarum 138: 289Ð300
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NEWS IN BRIEF
FROM OTHER JOURNALS
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Male olives have access to more females
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Source: Saumitou-Laprade et al (26 March 2010) Science 327: 1648-1650
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Lowering atmospheric with algae may contaminate ocean
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Source: Trick et al (15 March 2010) PNAS doi:10.1073/pnas.0910579107
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Help us writing the history of SPPS
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A book about The History of SPPS is planed for publishing in 2012. Illustration by Gorm Palmgren.
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In 2012, Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society will celebrate its 65th anniversary and the board has decided to mark the event by publishing a book about the history of SPPS. You can help us writing the history of SPPS by sharing with us photos and memories about the society's early times. The Board will collect documents and other written material and will interview present and former members of SPPS about their experiences and memories of SPPS. In the case you would also like to contribute to the history of SPPS and want to be contacted, please do not hesitate to contact the SPPS secretary at spps@helsinki.fi.
SPPS emerged during the end of the 1940's when Nordic plant physiologists faced difficulties in getting their work published in international journals. Professor M. G. Stålfelt from Stockholms Högskola realized that the plant science community in Scandinavia needed their own organization and journal, so he arranged a meeting in Copenhagen 27-28 October 1947 with representatives from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. It was then decided to establish the organization Societas Physiologia Plantarum Scandinavica and that it should arrange regular scientific conferences and publish the journal Physiologia Plantarum.
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