Photosynthesis has a problem
The enzyme RuBisCO is essential for photosynthesis. But it kind of sucks at is job, and it’s getting worse with extreme heat.
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https://grist.org/video/plant-enzyme-...
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Sources:
Robbie Wilson
Ahmed Badran
Mary Gehring
David Eisenberg
Berkley Walker
MIT J-WAFS EPiC Program
https://jwafs.mit.edu/projects/2023/e...
Erb et al. 2017
“A short history of RubisCO: The rise and fall (?) of Nature’s predominant CO2 fixing enzyme”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Bouvier et al. 2024
“Rubisco is evolving for improved catalytic efficiency and CO2 assimilation in plants”
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...
Wildman 2002
“Along the trail from Fraction I protein to Rubisco”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16245...
Chibnall 1939
“Protein Metabolism in the Plant”
Prywes et al. 2023
“Rubisco Function, Evolution, and Engineering”
https://www.annualreviews.org/content...
Aigner et al. 2017
“Plant RuBisCo assembly in E. coli with five chloroplast chaperones including BSD2”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29217...
C4 Rice Project
https://c4rice.com/the-science/photos...