Manipulation of plant structure can lead to substantial improvements in crop photosynthesis even when leaf area remains the same. Using L-system, Sarlikioti et al. produce a functional–structural model of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) to define an ideotype for optimization of light absorption and photosynthesis at the canopy level. By applying sensitivity analysis to a number of architectural characteristics, they show the importance of vertical light distribution and suggest that a new plant ideotype with more spacious canopy architecture due to long internodes and long, narrow leaves could lead to an increase in crop photosynthesis of up to 10 %.
