Review: Successes from the past decade of improving photosynthesis
Plant Science Research WeeklyMany factors contribute to global hunger, but progress in many sensible directions such as lowering waste and improving distribution has been negligible; furthermore, the ever growing challenges of climate change continue to hinder food production. Photosynthesis is a critical yet inefficient process…
Review.When the sun becomes too hot: Non-photochemical quenching in plants
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlant photosynthetic machinery can easily be overwhelmed by strong sunlight. Therefore, plants developed a set of processes called Non-Photochemical Quenching, a safety valve that dissipates excess light energy as heat. In a recent review, van Amerongen and Croce synthesize decades of often contradictory…
A new shade of photosynthesis: The missing chlorophyll f found in action
Plant Science Research WeeklyPhotosynthetic organisms were long believed to only use visible light for energy capture, until the discovery of far-red photosynthesis challenged this view. Far-red photosynthesis is thought to be enabled by the presence of the pigment chlorophyll f. Although previous studies have identified chlorophyll…
Photosynthesis reinvented: Introducing the McG Cycle for boosting plant growth and yield
Plant Science Research WeeklyPhotosynthesis is nature’s most powerful carbon capture system, fueling life on Earth and inspiring new strategies for sustainable agriculture. In plants, The Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle generates C3 carbohydrates but is inefficient at producing the two-carbon acetyl–coenzyme A (CoA), which is…
Photosynthesis reinvented: Introducing the McG Cycle for boosting plant growth and yield (copy)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPhotosynthesis is nature’s most powerful carbon capture system, fueling life on Earth and inspiring new strategies for sustainable agriculture. In plants, The Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle generates C3 carbohydrates but is inefficient at producing the two-carbon acetyl–coenzyme A (CoA), which is…
Directed evolution reveals pD1 mutations that boost photosynthesis under salt stress
Plant Science Research WeeklyImproving photosynthesis under abiotic stress is essential for enhancing crop productivity. Here, Jiang et al. used short-term accelerated evolution in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus to uncover genetic mutations that enhance photosynthesis under salt and light stress without compromising…
Boosting C4 photosynthesis and productivity by elevating Rubisco levels in sorghum and sugarcane
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe United Nations projects that by 2050, global food production must increase by 60% to meet growing demand, a goal that must be met under the pressures of global climate change and without further agricultural land expansion. With rising atmospheric CO₂ levels, Rubisco has emerged as the primary…
CA-nundrum: How a spontaneous mutation in carbonic anhydrase uncouples leaf δ13C, WUE and C4 photosynthesis
Plant Science Research WeeklyWith climate change, drought is expected to happen more frequently, making supplemental irrigation increasingly necessary to sustain crop productivity. One target trait to improve climate resilience is water use efficiency (WUE), defined by the ratio of carbon assimilation to water used by the plant.…
Review: Genetic engineering for carbon assimilation in plants
Plant Science Research WeeklyRubisco (Ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) is the central enzyme for photosynthesis, This enzyme poorly discriminates between CO2 and O2, which limits its efficiency. To work around this and make carbon assimilation more efficient, scientists have been employing different engineering…