Researchers from Michigan State University have identified a mechanism that helps plants endure winter with shorter daylight. The discovery appeared in the peer‑reviewed journal Plant Physiology and adds a new layer to how plants manage energy and growth when daylight is scarce.
To uncover how plants adjust to varying daylight lengths, the team focused on the oilseed Camelina sativa, a member of the mustard family widely cultivated for vegetable oil. The study employed advanced techniques in mass spectrometry and metabolomics to map the chemical changes inside the plant and to trace how these changes relate to light availability.
Findings show that when daylight declines, the rate of photosynthesis rises while respiration slows. This shift helps the plant conserve energy, allowing more of the captured light to fuel the production of carbohydrates. Concurrently, more energy is directed toward the shoots—the regions where photosynthesis primarily occurs—enhancing the plant’s capacity to carry out light‑driven energy conversion even under dimmer conditions.
Additionally, the plants store surplus sugar in the form of starch during the daylight hours. This stored carbohydrate provides a reserve to power metabolic activities through longer, darker periods. The researchers also observed a reduction in the exchange of metabolites between storage cavities and other cellular structures, a change that supports maintaining carbon balance through the nighttime cycle.
Experts believe these insights could guide the development of crop varieties that perform more reliably and efficiently under fluctuating light and temperature conditions. By understanding the strategies Camelina sativa uses to balance energy capture, storage, and utilization, breeders and biotechnologists can explore approaches to enhance stress resilience and yield stability in related crops.
Earlier warnings from the scientific community suggested that rising temperatures could disrupt photosynthesis in forest ecosystems, potentially altering carbon dynamics and forest health. The new research provides a complementary perspective by detailing how a crop species adapts its internal metabolism to shorter days, emphasizing that plant systems possess a remarkable capacity to reallocate energy and resources when light becomes limited.