Tag: Photosynthesis

In most land plants, carbon fixation into a three-carbon compound by the enzyme Rubisco takes place in the leaf mesophyll cells; these are called C3 plants. However, a different and more efficient pathway has evolved independently many times, in which a four-carbon metabolite is first produced in the…

Photosynthesis is fundamental to life on Earth and a topic that all plant biologists should have a good understanding of, but it is also an incredibly complex set of processes, reactions and structures spanning great temporal and spatial distances. In this new Commentary by Eckardt et al., several experts…

Pyrenoids are structures that concentrate carbon dioxide around Rubisco, most commonly studied in green algae such as Chlamydomonas. However, hornworts, one of the three types of bryophytes (along with liverworts and mosses) also have a pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanism (pCCM), unique among…

In the dazzling dance of plant cellular life, chloroplasts must groove in harmony with growth to sidestep the perils of photooxidative damage. This harmony between photosynthesis and photooxidative damage is orchestrated by the guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) signalling pathway which traces its roots…

Xin et al. determined the cryo-EM structure of HQNO-bound Alternative Complex III from the anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus. The Plant Cell (2024) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koae029 By Xiaoling Xu at Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China Background: Photosynthesis…

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants assimilate carbon by using light energy. However, with the solar energy conversion efficiency of many crop plants less than 1%, it is inefficient. Therefore, there is interest in manipulating photosynthesis for increased efficiency. Here, Croce et al. identifying…

In woody plants, we know much less about how photosynthesis functions in stems than in leaves. This study by Natale et al. focused on how chloroplasts in Fraxinus ornus stems of different ages work. The authors looked at oxygen production rates in whole stems, bark, and wood using various methods like…

Healthy plants require access to several mineral nutrients, which are usually taken up in ionic form. The details of nutrient uptake, distribution, and function have been painstakingly revealed over several decades. In this excellent new Tansley Review, Kunz et al. provide an overview of ion homeostasis…