Crops with improved yields could more easily become a reality, thanks to a development by scientists.
Researchers studying a biological process that enables tiny green algae to grow efficiently have taken the first steps to recreating the mechanism in a more complex plant.
Their findings could lead to the breeding of high yield varieties of common crops such as wheat, rice and barley.
Concentrating carbon
Algae cells are known to have a specialised mechanism that boosts their internal concentration of carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.
This process supports other mechanisms that convert this store of carbon into the sugars the cells need to grow.
Many staple crops, and nearly all vegetables, have a less efficient method of photosynthesis. They cannot actively raise their internal concentrations of CO2 in the same way as algae.
If crops could be developed using the concentrating mechanism found in algae, they could have a much higher yield than existing varieties.
Component transplant
Plant experts at the University of Edinburgh studied components in algae that play a role in photosynthesis and found that they could function normally in other types of cells.
They then transferred the components to tobacco and cress plants, and found that the parts were able to locate at the correct places in the new cells.
Scientists were able to pinpoint the most critical components involved in efficient plant growth, and to gauge what further research might be needed for improved crops.
Read more: High yield crops a step closer
The Latest on: High yield crops
[google_news title=”” keyword=”High yield crops” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: High yield crops
- Precision planting: Good looks and high yields don’t always go togetheron June 2, 2023 at 11:45 pm
If your greatest joy in farming is seeing nice, even emergence, you can’t beat a precision planter. “We tried a bunch of pulse crops, including field ...
- Dry conditions threatening farmer’s cropson June 2, 2023 at 4:39 pm
You never know what you’re gonna get but the last three weeks have been extremely dry.”The lack of rain and high temperatures are threatening the Kron’s crop yield. They started planting in April, but ...
- Using a gene-editing tool to improve productivity in rice cropson June 1, 2023 at 11:11 am
As global food insecurity climbed to a perilous high in 2022, scientists ramped up their efforts to perfect best practices for protecting the yields of major crops that are essential in combating this ...
- Michigan crops threatened by dry weather, farmers worried about yield, priceson May 30, 2023 at 3:05 pm
As the high temperatures of the spring heat wave persist, phones are ringing non-stop at heating and cooling businesses across Michigan as residents rush to ensure their air conditioning units are up ...
- Crop Watch: High blackgrass levels and T3 spray strategieson May 30, 2023 at 9:31 am
June is the month when any deficiencies in weed control become visible with blackgrass and other grassweeds waving above cereal crops. This year, there ...
- Potassium Sulfate Market Set to Achieve USD 10.8 Billion Revenue by 2031 with 4.9% CAGR – TMR Studyon May 29, 2023 at 2:49 pm
A growing number of government initiatives are encouraging the development of high-yield crops and modern technologies, thereby driving up the market for potassium sulfate as fertilizer in the market.
- Saline-Alkali Land to Yield More Cropson May 25, 2023 at 1:10 am
Saline alkali land has now been arable in west Jilin, which resides in one of the world's three largest soda saline concentration areas. (PHOTO: XINHUA) By Staff Reporters. On May ...
- USDA predicts high corn, soybean production for 2023on May 24, 2023 at 7:49 am
The US Department of Agriculture in its May 12 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report projected record-high corn and soybean production in 2023 with crop progress and weather forecasts ...
- Disease and Insects are Attacking Your Wheat Crop. Here's How to Know Whether to Make One Treatment or Twoon May 22, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Not every corn crop goes through this phase ... Ferrie says high ear counts, not high stand counts, are what contributes to high yield outcomes at harvest. It’s an important difference to understand ...
- More effort is needed to bring salt-tolerant crops to the farmers who need them, argue researcherson May 22, 2023 at 8:30 am
Despite years of effort and advances in understanding how salinity tolerance works in plants, very few salt-tolerant crops have been released for commercial use.
via Bing News