Review: Rubisco is not really so bad ($) (Plant Cell Environ)

The carbon-fixing enzyme Rubisco (Ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) is much-maligned and has been described as “sluggish” and with “confused specificity”. In this new Review, Bathellier et al. argue that it is “not really so bad”. Their reasoning is that when Rubisco’s catalytic properties are compared to enzymes with related catalytic activities and in relevant physiological conditions, it really doesn’t stand out as a particularly slow or non-specific enzyme. The authors speculate that perhaps there is not as much to be gained from engineering a more efficient enzyme as previously thought. Nevertheless, there is still much to be learned by further research into this most important enzyme. (Summary by Mary Williams) Plant Cell Environ. 10.1111/pce.13149