Hey guys, I'm doing the PhotosynQ tutorial project to answer the following question:

Question:

Does the presence of fruit or flowers impact photosynthesis in nearby leaves?

So far, I've looked into the literature and found:

Support for higher photosynthesis in leaves nearby fruit, and higher photosynthesis as fruit matured: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00380612

http://treephys.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/5/289.short “Leaves close to developing fruits exhibited a higher photosynthetic capacity than other leaves, but similar Ta.”

http://treephys.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/4/387.short Flowering, however, seems to decrease electron flow in Photosystem II, also lower stomatal conductance. “It is concluded that low Anet in leaves close to inflorescences was probably due neither to changes in Na nor to a decrease in Rubisco activity induced by low gs, but rather to a decrease in electron flow in photosystem II. “

Conclusion: Ok – so the response is nuanced – it appears that leaves near flowers may see a decrease in photosynthesis, while leaves near fruit may see an increase. We may also want to pay attention to anything to estimate stomatal conductance (in our case, the closest we have are differences in leaf temperature).

Am I on the right track here? Do you have other ideas of things I should include (as user questions) or specific things I should be concerned about when collecting the data? I haven't created the project yet, looking for feedback prior to doing so.

Thanks!