Research shows that photorespiration does not protect against fluctuating light conditions

Photosynthesis is one of the most important metabolic processes in nature: It is critical for plant growth and thus for the production of plant-based foods. In close cooperation with the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), a German-American research team headed by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now investigated whether a specific metabolic pathway in photosynthesis that competes with carbon fixation has a protective function for plants.