Scientists from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and Cornell have boosted a carbon-craving enzyme called RuBisCO to turbocharge photosynthesis in corn. The discovery promises to be a key step in improving agricultural efficiency and yield, according to new research in Nature Plants, Oct. 1.
Increased RuBisCO assists corn’s biological machinery used during photosynthesis to incorporate atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbohydrates.
“Every metabolic process – like photosynthesis – has the equivalent of traffic lights or speed bumps,” said plant biologist David Stern, president of the Cornell-affiliated BTI. “RuBisCO is often the limiting factor in photosynthesis. With increased RuBisCO, though, this well-known speed bump is lowered, leading to improved photosynthetic efficiency.”
RuBisCO does have a formal, scientific name. It’s Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, an enzyme that helps convert carbon dioxide into sugar. It’s generally accepted, said Stern, that it’s the Earth’s most abundant enzyme.
But for the world of commercial agriculture and corn’s C4 (four-carbon compound) photosynthesis system, RuBisCO works slowly.
BTI researchers found a way to overexpress a key chaperone enzyme called RuBisCO Assembly Factor 1, or RAF1, to help make more RuBisCO.
“It needs help from other proteins to assemble itself,” said lead author Coralie Salesse, a Cornell doctoral candidate in the field of plant biology.
With the chaperone enzyme, the scientists in effect lowered a different speed bump – one that limits the rate at which RuBisCO can attain the right biological architecture – leading the plants to accumulate more of it.
The exact mechanism of how RuBisCO was assembled had been a mystery for many years, until the RAF1 and RAF2 proteins were discovered, said Salesse.
Salesse conducted research at the laboratories of Robert Sharwood and Florian Busch at the Australian National University and at the laboratory of Steven Long, University of Illinois. Salesse found that increasing RuBisCO causes greenhouse-grown plants to flower sooner, grow taller and produce more biomass.
“Corn is an important but land and energy-intensive crop, and reducing its environmental footprint is important. Just in this country, corn is grown on some 90 million acres, and nearly 15 billion bushels were produced in recent years,” said Stern, Cornell adjunct professor of plant biology. He explained there are different approaches to increasing biomass per acre, including boosting photosynthesis, which could increase the weight of each ear of corn and thus yield per acre.
Stern noted – with this finding – that the same approach may have promise to improve yields in other C4 crops, such as sorghum and sugarcane.
“As we move from the greenhouse and into the fields, we hope to eventually observe improved growth and yield in production varieties,” he said. “Turbocharging RuBisCO has the potential to provide a foundation for profound effects on the corn plant’s ability to mature and produce biomass, especially when combined with other approaches.”
Learn more: ‘Turbocharging’ photosynthesis increases plant biomass
The Latest on: Agricultural productivity
[google_news title=”” keyword=”agricultural productivity” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Agricultural productivity
- 40% drop in cherry productionon April 27, 2024 at 4:08 am
The Agricultural Cooperative of Alfândega da Fé, in the district of Bragança, has announced a forecast of a drop of around 40% in cherry production, due to the cold and rain felt during the months of ...
- Can Hong Kong cultivate its agriculture, fisheries sectors? Experts say more policy support needed to tend to neglected farming sceneon April 26, 2024 at 5:30 pm
Agriculture and fisheries blueprint outlines ambitious plans, but farming still viewed as a sunset industry Small number of young people drawn to agriculture courses at three universities offer hope ...
- Agricultural Extension Services Experts Canvass Adoption of New Technology to Drive Food Securityon April 26, 2024 at 9:41 am
Experts have canvassed the integration of Artificial Intelligence and emerging relevant technological innovations into agricultural extension practices in order to improve agricultural production ...
- Researchers seek to scale ‘yeast fuel’ productionon April 26, 2024 at 7:34 am
Scientists at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University say yeast and agricultural waste will play a key role in the development of renewable jet fuel for the aerospace industry ...
- Your latte could get even more expensive, thanks to a drought in Vietnam that's strangling coffee bean productionon April 26, 2024 at 12:44 am
A long drought and hoarding could cut exports by 20% this year, Vietnam's coffee association said last month.
- DJI Unveils Agras T50 and T25 Drones for Enhanced Agricultural Productivityon April 25, 2024 at 8:35 am
New Models Offer Advanced Features for Efficient Crop Management with Upgraded SmartFarm App DJI, a global leader in civilian drones and creative camera technology, today launched the Agras T50 and T2 ...
- Superfood protein pulled out of thin air massively scales up productionon April 24, 2024 at 2:59 pm
The world's first commercial-scale factory for making nutrient-rich and versatile protein from air and sustainable energy has opened its doors in Finland, and the startup behind it aims to have its ...
- Cargill leans on regenerative agriculture and generative AI to feed the planeton April 24, 2024 at 9:39 am
As CIO of an agricultural giant with annual sales of $177 billion, Jennifer Hartsock thinks about how the tech tools and capabilities she deploys can help farmers become profitable and sustainable.
- Canal Number One $650M pump station to boost irrigation enhances agricultural productivity, flood mitigationon April 23, 2024 at 1:46 am
CONSTRUCTION efforts are ramping up on a pump station at Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara, Region Three, signalling a significant advancement in improving ...
via Bing News