Photosynthetica 2025, 63(2):95-103 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2025.014

Dr. Autar Krishen Mattoo (1943-2024): an outstanding plant biologist with a focus on photosynthesis

A.K. HANDA1, M. EDELMAN2, W.W. ADAMS III3, G. GOVINDJEE4
1 Department of Horticulture and Biology & Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, USA
2 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
3 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0334, USA
4 Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

We provide here the academic life of Dr. Autar Krishen Mattoo (1943-2024), including his role as a research leader at the United States Department of Agriculture and his outstanding contributions in photosynthesis, plant physiology and molecular biology with a focus to enhance nutrients. His work included ways to regulate Photosystem II (PSII) reaction center proteins, as well as to exploit, for our benefit, the role of polyamines in the plant world. Further, he provided the basis for beneficial aspects of sustainable agriculture systems and for selecting genes/proteins that provide better growth, higher disease resistance, and tolerance from abiotic stress. Autar K. Mattoo was a true international scholar and leader. We include below an overview of his selected research, his wonderful association with others, as well as a few reminiscences.

Additional key words: abiotic stress; crop productivity; D1 protein; polyamines; regulation of photosynthesis.

Received: April 7, 2025; Accepted: April 11, 2025; Prepublished online: April 24, 2025; Published: July 10, 2025  Show citation

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HANDA, A.K., EDELMAN, M., ADAMS III, W.W., & GOVINDJEE, G. (2025). Dr. Autar Krishen Mattoo (1943-2024): an outstanding plant biologist with a focus on photosynthesis. Photosynthetica, 63(2), 95-103. doi: 10.32615/ps.2025.014
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    References

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    2. Booij-James I.S., Swegle W.M., Edelman M., Mattoo A.K.: Phosphorylation of the D1 Photosystem II reaction center protein is controlled by an endogenous circadian rhythm. - Plant Physiol. 130: 2069-2075, 2002. Go to original source...
    3. Demmig-Adams B., Adams III W.W., Mattoo A.K. (ed.): Photoprotection, Photoinhibition, Gene Regulation, and Environment. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration. Vol. 21. Pp. 380. Springer, Dordrecht 2006. Go to original source...
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    14. Govindjee G., Sawhney B., Mattoo A.K.: Ravindar Kaur Sawhney (1931-2020): An innovative plant physiologist. - Plant Physiol. Rep. 26: 1-3, 2021. Go to original source...
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    16. Goyal R.K., Mattoo A.K.: Multitasking antimicrobial peptides in plant development and host defense against biotic/abiotic stress. - Plant Sci. 228: 135-149, 2014. Go to original source...
    17. Goyal R.K., Mattoo A.K., Schmidt M.A.: Rhizobial-host interactions and symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legume crops toward agriculture sustainability. - Front. Microbiol. 12: 669404, 2021. Go to original source...
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    19. Handa A.K., Fatima T., Mattoo A.K.: Polyamines: bio-molecules with diverse functions in plant and human health and disease -Front. Chem. 6: 10, 2018. Go to original source...
    20. Handa A.K., Mattoo A.K.: Differential and functional interactions emphasize the multiple roles of polyamines in plants. - Plant Physiol. Biochem. 48: 540-546, 2010. Go to original source...
    21. Kaur B., Handa A.K., Mattoo A.K.: Genetic engineering of tomato to improve nutritional quality, resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, and for non-food applications. - In: Mattoo A.K., Handa A.K. (ed.): Achieving Sustainable Cultivation of Tomatoes. Pp. 229-282. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge 2017.
    22. Koblizek M., Masojidek J., Komenda J. et al.: A sensitive photosystem II-based biosensor for detection of a class of herbicides. - Biotechnol. Bioeng. 60: 664-669, 1998. Go to original source...
    23. Krol M., Ivanov A.G., Booij-James I. et al.: Absence of the major light harvesting antenna proteins alters the redox properties of photosystem II reaction centers in the chlorina F2 mutant of barley. - Biochem. Cell Biol. 87: 557-566, 2009. Go to original source...
    24. Mattoo A.K., Edelman M.: Photoregulation and metabolism of a thylakoid herbicide-receptor protein. - In: St. John J.B., Berlin E., Jackson P.C. (ed.): Frontiers of Membrane Research in Agriculture. Pp. 23-34. Rowman & Allanheld, Totowa 1985.
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    26. Mattoo A.K., Giardi M.-T., Raskind A., Edelman M.: Dynamic metabolism of photosystem II reaction center proteins and pigments. - Physiol. Plantarum 107: 454-461, 1999. Go to original source...
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    28. Mattoo A.K., Marder J.B., Edelman M.: Dynamics of the photosystem II reaction center. - Cell 56: 241-246, 1989. Go to original source...
    29. Mattoo A.K., Modi V.V.: Citrate cleavage enzyme in mango fruit. - Biochem. Bioph. Res. Co. 39: 895-904, 1970. Go to original source...
    30. Mattoo A.K., Pick U., Hoffman-Falk H., Edelman M.: The rapidly metabolized 32,000-dalton polypeptide of the chloroplast is the "proteinaceous shield" regulating photosystem II electron transport and mediating diuron herbicide sensitivity. - PNAS 78: 1572-1576, 1981. Go to original source...
    31. Mattoo A.K., Sobolev A.P., Neelam A. et al.: Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy-based metabolite profiling of transgenic tomato fruit engineered to accumulate spermidine and spermine reveals enhanced anabolic and nitrogen-carbon interactions. - Plant Physiol. 142: 1759-1770, 2006. Go to original source...
    32. Mattoo A.K., Suttle J.C. (ed.): The Plant Hormone Ethylene. Pp. 347. CRC Press, Boca Raton 1991.
    33. Mehta R.A., Cassol T., Li N. et al.: Engineered polyamine accumulation in tomato enhances phytonutrient content, juice quality and vine life. - Nat. Biotechnol. 20: 613-618, 2002. Go to original source...
    34. Mehta R.A., Fawcett T.W., Porath D., Mattoo A.K.: Oxidative stress causes rapid membrane translocation and in vivo degradation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. - J. Biol. Chem. 267: 2810-2816, 1992. Go to original source...
    35. Mehta R.A., Handa A.K., Mattoo A.K.: Interactions of ethylene and polyamines in regulating fruit ripening. - In: Kanellis A.K., Chang C., Kende H., Grierson D. (ed.): Biology and Biotechnology of the Plant Hormone Ethylene. Pp. 321-326. Springer, Dordrecht 1997. Go to original source...
    36. Roberts D.P., Mattoo A.K.: Sustainable agriculture - enhancing environmental benefits, food nutritional quality and building crop resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses. - Agriculture 8: 8, 2018. Go to original source...
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    38. Wang K., Handa A.K., Mattoo A.K.: Understanding and improving the shelf life of tomatoes. - In: Mattoo A.K., Handa A.K. (ed.): Achieving Sustainable Cultivation of Tomatoes. Pp. 315-342. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge 2017. Go to original source...

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