It has been recognized the need to consider some photosynthetic
processes in their transient states since those are more representative
of the natural environment. The combination of mathematical models with
the available data provides a tool to understand the dynamic responses
of plants to fluctuating environments and can be used to make
predictions on how photosynthesis would respond to unsteady state
conditions. Here we present a leaf level system dynamic photosynthetic
model based and validated on an experiment performed on two soybean
varieties, the wildtype Eiko and the chlorophyll deficient mutant
Minngold, grown in constant and fluctuating light conditions. This
mutant is known to have similar steady-state photosynthesis compared to
the green wildtype, but it is found to have less biomass at harvest. It
has been hypothesized that this might be due to an unoptimized response
to non-steady state conditions, therefore this mutant seems relevant to
investigate dynamic photosynthesis. The model explained well the
photosynthetic responses of these two varieties to fluctuating and
constant light conditions and allowed to make relevant conclusions on
the different dynamic responses of the two varieties. Furthermore, due
to its simplicity, the model could provide the basis of an upscaled
dynamic model at plant level.