{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T17:36:13Z","timestamp":1773768973700,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773705600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"\n Improving photosynthetic efficiency during the induction phase is a key strategy for enhancing plant productivity. A critical prerequisite for achieving this goal is identifying the limitation factors that affect photosynthesis during induction. While stomatal conductance to water vapor (g\n sw<\/jats:sub>\n ) can be quantified using gas exchange measurements, the quantification of mesophyll conductance (g\n m<\/jats:sub>\n ) and maximum carboxylation rate (\n \n V\n cmax<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n ) remains uncertain and underexplored. This study, using\n Ficus carica<\/jats:italic>\n as plant material, aims to investigate whether saturation flashes influence the photosynthetic induction process and assess the sensitivity of g\n m<\/jats:sub>\n ,\n \n V\n cmax<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n , and photosynthetic limitation analysis to key photosynthetic parameters. The results revealed no significant differences in the dynamics of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance between treatments with and without saturation flashes, indicating that saturation flashes did not interfere with the photosynthetic induction process. Further analysis of the photosynthetic induction process showed that g\n m<\/jats:sub>\n and\n \n V\n cmax<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n exhibited a gradual increase during induction. Moreover, sensitivity analysis demonstrated that variations in the leaf absorptance parameter (\u03b1\u03b2) and CO\n 2<\/jats:sub>\n compensation point (\u0393\n *<\/jats:sup>\n ) significantly impacted the estimation of g\n m<\/jats:sub>\n and\n \n V\n cmax<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n , while changes in the Rubisco affinity constant (\n \n K\n m<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n ) also notably influenced\n \n V\n cmax<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n . Finally, photosynthetic limitation analysis revealed that stomatal limitation (SL) was the primary factor limiting photosynthesis in\n Ficus carica<\/jats:italic>\n , accounting for 41.4% of the total limitation, followed by mesophyll conductance limitation (MCL) and biochemical limitation (BL), which accounted for 30.9% and 27.7%, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed no significant changes in the overall pattern of photosynthetic limitations across different sensitivity analysis scenarios. Overall, this study demonstrates that saturation flashes do not interfere with photosynthetic induction in\n Ficus carica<\/jats:italic>\n , while changes in \u03b1\u03b2, \u0393\n *<\/jats:sup>\n , and\n \n K\n m<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n affect the estimation of g\n m<\/jats:sub>\n and\n \n V\n cmax<\/jats:sub>\n <\/jats:italic>\n but have no significant impact on the estimation of photosynthetic limitations. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving photosynthetic efficiency during the induction phase in\n Ficus carica<\/jats:italic>\n and enhances our understanding of photosynthetic induction measurement and calculation methods.\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1760513","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T14:34:52Z","timestamp":1773758092000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of saturation flash protocols on photosynthetic induction and assessment of mesophyll conductance and maximum carboxylation rate sensitivity to parameter inputs in Ficus carica"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Wei","family":"Jin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Agronomy, Zhoukou Normal University","place":["Zhoukou, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Guoyin","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Agronomy, Zhoukou Normal University","place":["Zhoukou, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jinping","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ultrasonic Medicine, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University & Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1992","DOI":"10.1104\/pp.008250","article-title":"Temperature response of mesophyll conductance: Implications for the determination of Rubisco enzyme kinetics and for limitations to photosynthesis in vivo","volume":"130","author":"Bernacchi","year":"2002","journal-title":"Plant Physiol."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"397","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00392238","article-title":"Effect of temperature on the CO2\/O2 specificity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase\/oxygenase and the rate of respiration in the light","volume":"165","author":"Brooks","year":"1985","journal-title":"Planta"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"382","DOI":"10.1111\/nph.15572","article-title":"Plant water-use strategy mediates stomatal effects on the light induction of photosynthesis","volume":"222","author":"Deans","year":"2019","journal-title":"New Phytol."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3227","DOI":"10.1111\/pce.13622","article-title":"Estimating stomatal and biochemical limitations during photosynthetic induction","volume":"42","author":"Deans","year":"2019","journal-title":"Plant Cell Environ."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5512","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/eraf305","article-title":"Contrasting photosynthetic, stomatal, and mesophyll mechanisms drive common reductions in leaf water-use efficiency under blue light","volume":"76","author":"Diao","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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