Increasing global population and climate change uncertainties have compelled increased photosynthetic efficiency and yields to ensure food security over the coming decades. Potentially, genetic manipulation and minimization of carbon or energy losses can be ideal to boost photosynthetic efficiency or crop productivity. Despite significant efforts, limited success has been achieved. There is a need for thorough improvement in key photosynthetic limiting factors, such as stomatal conductance, mesophyll conductance, biochemical capacity combined with Rubisco, the Calvin–Benson cycle, thylakoid membrane electron transport, nonphotochemical quenching, and carbon metabolism or fixation pathways. In addition, the mechanistic basis for the enhancement in photosynthetic adaptation to environmental variables such as light intensity, temperature and elevated CO₂ requires further investigation. This review sheds light on strategies to improve plant photosynthesis by targeting these intrinsic photosynthetic limitations and external environmental factors.

全球人口和气候变化不确定性的增加迫使光合效率和产量提高，以确保未来几十年的粮食安全。潜在地，基因操作和最小化碳或能量损失可能是提高光合效率或作物生产力的理想选择。尽管付出了巨大的努力，但取得的成功有限。需要彻底改善关键的光合限制因素，例如气孔导度、叶肉导度、与 Rubisco 相结合的生化能力、卡尔文-本森循环、类囊体膜电子传递、非光化学猝灭以及碳代谢或固定途径。此外，增强光合适应环境变量（如光强度）的机制基础，₂需要进一步调查。本综述阐明了通过针对这些内在光合作用限制和外部环境因素来改善植物光合作用的策略。