How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate

Growth is a major component of fitness in all organisms, an important mediator of competitive interactions in plant communities, and a central determinant of yield in crops. Understanding what limits plant growth is therefore of fundamental importance to plant evolution, ecology, and crop science, but each discipline views the process from a different perspective. This review highlights the importance of source–sink interactions as determinants of growth. The evidence for source- and sink-limitation of growth, and the ways in which regulatory molecular feedback systems act to maintain an appropriate source:sink balance, are first discussed. Evidence clearly shows that future increases in crop productivity depend crucially on a quantitative understanding of the extent to which sources or sinks limit growth, and how this changes during development. In addition, to identify bottlenecks limiting growth and yield, a holistic view of growth is required at the whole-plant scale, incorporating mechanistic interactions between physiology, resource allocation, and plant development. Such a holistic perspective on source–sink interactions will allow the development of a more integrated, whole-system level understanding of growth, with benefits across multiple disciplines.