Thompson, M., Gamage, D.,
Ratnasekera, D., Perera, A.,
Martin, A. and Seneweera, S.
2019
Effect of elevated carbon dioxide
on plant biomass and grain protein
concentration differs across bread,
durum and synthetic hexaploid
wheat genotypes.
Journal of Cereal Science 87: 103-110.
NOTE:
Wheat is a key food crop
throughout the world.
Thompson et al. (2019)
examined the biomass
and grain protein
concentration
of 19 different
wheat genotypes
in response to
elevated levels
of atmospheric
carbon dioxide.
Fears:
Rising CO2 will
increase crop yields,
but the harvested food
will be less nutritious.
Facts:
Nearly one-third
of genotypes
do NOT exhibit
declining protein
concentrations
at higher levels
of CO2.
One genotype,
called Tjilkuri,
had a +33.1%
protein increase!
SUMMARY:
The great
CO2-induced
nutrition scare
can be overcome
by identifying
plant genotypes
that do not
experience
protein and other
macro and micro
nutrient declines and
then growing them.
There is no
compelling reason
to be concerned
about future food
nutritional security
of the planet.
DETAILS:
The study
was conducted in an
environmentally-controlled
glasshouse at the University
of Southern Queensland,
Toowoomba, Queensland,
Australia, in 2014.
The 19 genotypes were:
5 tetraploid durum wheats,
11 hexaploid bread wheats, and
3 synthetic hexaploid wheats.
They were grown in pots
and subjected to CO2
concentrations
of either 389 (ambient)
or 700 (elevated) ppm.
At maturity, the authors
analyzed the biomass
and protein content
of each genotype.
Figure 1:
Grain biomass gains
ranged from +5% to +89%
(average of +48%)
among various genotypes
from a 311 ppm increase
in atmospheric CO2:
Figure 2.
8 of the 19 genotypes
experienced an increase
in total protein content
and 6 experienced
an increase in grain
protein concentration,
among various genotypes
from a 311 ppm increase
in atmospheric CO2:
