Cornell Researchers Supercharge Photosynthesis Using the Power of Algae
Cornell Researchers Supercharge Photosynthesis Using the Power of Algae
Laura Gunn, an assistant professor from the School of Integrative Plant Science Plant Biology Section in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell, and her colleagues have made a significant breakthrough in enhancing plant productivity and boosting carbon sequestration. They managed to
One species of red algae, Griffithsia monilis (Gm), contains Rubisco which is 30% more efficient at fixing carbon than Rubisco in other organisms, including terrestrial crops. For at least 20 years, scientists have been interested in transplanting the highly efficient GmRubisco into plants such as rice, wheat, soybean, and tobacco to increase their productivity; however, until now, no one has been able to successfully coax plants to express it. This is because Rubisco requires multiple “chaperones” that are essential for the protein to fold, assemble and be active – there are seven such helpers in tobacco plants – and most of the chaperones in red algae are unknown, Gunn said
In their study, Gunn and her co-authors were able to solve the 3D structure of GmRubisco and use this information to successfully graft a small number of regions from Rhodobacter sphaeroides (RsRubisco) into a bacterial Rubisco.
A little tldr for anyone struggling with that awful mobile site
What would such an increased photosynthesis rate mean for soil degradation? Would we need more fertilizer because the plants need to support that growth?