Scientists resurrect ancient enzymes to improve photosynthesis
A Cornell University study describes a breakthrough in the quest to improve photosynthesis in certain crops, a step toward adapting plants to rapid climate changes and increasing yields to feed a projected 9 billion people by 2050.The study,"Improving the Efficiency of Rubisco by Resurrecting Its Ancestors in the Family Solanaceae," published April 15 in.
By resurrecting ancient Rubisco, early results show promise for developing faster, more efficient Rubisco enzymes to incorporate into crops and help them adapt to hot, dry future conditions, as human activities are increasing heat-trapping COThe study describes predictions of 98 Rubisco enzymes at key moments in the evolutionary history of plants in the Solanaceae family, which include tomato, pepper, potato, eggplant and tobacco.
In this study, Lin reconstructed a phylogeny -- a tree-like diagram showing evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms -- of Rubisco, using Solanaceae plants."By getting a lot of [genetic] sequences of Rubisco in existing plants, a phylogenetic tree could be constructed to figure out which Rubiscos likely existed 20 to 30 million years ago," Hanson said.
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