The foreword to this special issue on the advanced technologies in studying photosynthesis focuses on the main contributions of Fred Chow, one of the key Australian scientists studying light reactions in plants.

Professor Wah Soon Chow is an Australian biophysicist interested in the study of photosynthetic reactions. One of his main contributions to the understanding of photosynthesis has been the detailed study of photoinhibition. Photoinhibition occurs when a portion of the energy of the photosynthetic apparatus leads to the loss of the photosynthetic activity. This review summarises the most important contribution of Professor Chow.

The vascular plant PSI is a complicated and precisely regulated protein–pigment machinery, which can convert absorbed photons into electrons with a high quantum efficiency. Over the last four decades, great progresses have been made to advance our understanding on the structure and characteristics of the vascular plant photosystem I complex, as well as on its mechanisms of efficient light harvesting and conversion. This review presents some questions concerning the relationship between its structure and function that need to be answered in the future.

Quantum dots are promising nanomaterials that are used in biotechnology frequently for last three decades. With their unique properties, quantum dots can be used to enhance crop yield of vegetables and light harvesting capacity of microalgae. This review discusses how quantum dots can alter natural photosynthesis and their possible toxic effects on photosynthetic organisms.

Given that photosynthesis responds to environmental changes with time delay, photosynthetic models driven by low-resolution meteorological data do not reflect in situ photosynthesis. We simulated and compared daily photosynthetic gain in open fields using irradiance data with different time intervals and photosynthetic models with or without considering the time delay to propose an appropriate time interval of light measurement. Our results highlight the impact of photosynthetic dynamics and clarify required specifications of meteorological light measurement to support photosynthesis research.

If normal photoprotection is impaired when leaves are exposed to strong light some PSII reaction centres may close. This paper presents novel, less-invasive evidence that under these conditions some excitation is transferred from the antennae of closed centres to open centres, increasing their functional absorption cross-section and lowering the intensity of light energy needed to drive electron transport. At the same time, the residual excitation inevitably transferred to closed PSII centres is dissipated as heat.

Photosynthesis occurs mainly in plant leaves, and is the process whereby atmospheric CO₂ is absorbed and converted into organic matter. Measurement of leaf photosynthesis using currently available instruments takes several minutes: the present study demonstrates that the newly developed instrument ‘MIC-100’ enables instantaneous evaluation of photosynthetic activity under field conditions. The MIC-100 model can be a game-changing technology that will enhance rapid progress in a wide range of breeding programs in which efficient selection of plants with superior photosynthetic activity is instrumental.

We compared two polyphosphates (Poly-A and Poly-B) and an orthophosphate fertiliser (Ortho-P) to an unfertilised treatment under three drip fertigation frequencies. Chickpea plants grown under polyphosphate fertigation absorbed significantly more phosphorus. Positive correlations between phosphorus uptake, photosynthetic yield, chickpea flowering, podding dynamics, and grain yield showed the beneficial effects of adequate phosphorus nutrition on chickpea growth and productivity.

In the last few decades, the use of fluorometers has been generalised to characterise the regulation and optimisation of marine photosynthesis performance of algae, seagrasses as well as symbiotic stony corals. However, the robustness of certain protocols and derived parameters still needs to be established. Due to the importance and generalised use of these powerful tools in marine research, we provide here a validation and critical review of these common protocols and parameters.

Levels of NdhO, an oxygenic photosynthesis-specific subunit of cyanobacterial NDH-1, negatively regulate cyclic electron transfer around PSI, an important antioxidant mechanism that balances the ATP/NADPH ratio, improves the Calvin-Benson cycle and consequently reduces the reactive oxygen species production. As a consequence, NdhO levels negatively regulate the cyanobacterial cell bleaching and cell death triggered by high temperature.

Diatoms are an important group of microalgae in aquatic ecosystems, and they are valuable sources of metabolites that are used for aquaculture feed. Light quality is an important factor that determines the physiological and metabolic activity of diatoms. Here, we estimated the productivity return on energy invested using different colours of light, which could provide a valuable information for applied facilities about selection of light colour for optimised growth and productivity of valuable compounds.

R language is one of the most commonly used analytical tools in the plant sciences. We explored the use of R and its packages in photosynthesis research and found the popularity of R has been increasing, mainly due to its user-friendly and abundant open-source online codes. These findings reveal a significant increase in usage in photosynthesis research over the past decade and has a broad prospect in the future.

A novel method of a dual-frequency Fourier transform photoacoustics was developed for the evaluations of ratios (oxygen coefficients of photosynthesis), Ψ₀₂, between the ‘pure’ photosynthetic oxygen evolution, which is not influenced by the processes of O₂ uptake and photochemical energy storage. In some light conditions, Ψ₀₂ was shown to be low whereas the operating quantum yields of PSII was high. It may suggests a significant participation of the cyclic electron transport around PSII in the total photosynthesis.