Source-Sink Relationships in Crop Plants and Their Influence on Yield Development and Nutritional Quality

For seed crops, yield is the cumulative result of both source and sink strength for photoassimilates and nutrients over the course of seed development. Source strength for photoassimilates is dictated by both net photosynthetic rate and the rate of photoassimilate remobilisation from source tissues. This review focuses on the current understanding of how the source-sink relationship in crop plants influences rates of yield development and the resilience of yield and nutritional quality. We present the limitations of current approaches to accurately measure sink strength and emphasize differences in coordination between photosynthesis and yield under varying environmental conditions. We highlight the potential to exploit source-sink dynamics, in order to improve yields and emphasize the importance of resilience in yield and nutritional quality with implications for plant breeding strategies.