CAPP: Combining Algal and Plant Photosynthesis

CAPP：结合藻类和植物光合作用

• 批准号: BB/I024429/1
• 负责人: David Fell
• 金额: $ 20.3万
• 依托单位: Oxford Brookes University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2011 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FI024429%2F1
• 关键词: CAPP; Combining; Algal; Plant; Photosynthesis

In most plants, growth rate is limited by the rate at which carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is taken up and converted to sugars in the process of photosynthesis. The enzyme responsible for the first step in this process, Rubisco, does not work at its potential maximum efficiency at the current levels of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere. If levels were much higher, photosynthesis would be faster and plants would grow faster. This speeding-up of photosynthesis will happen naturally over the next fifty years or so as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise due to human activities. However, there is an immediate requirement for increased crop productivity to provide food for the rising population of the planet. Our project addresses this problem. We are studying a mechanism present in tiny green algae that results in high concentrations of carbon dioxide inside their photosynthesising cells (called a Carbon Concentrating Mechanism, or CCM), enabling Rubisco to work at maximum efficiency. We have recently discovered important new information about this mechanism, and we have invented new and rapid methods to discover algal genes that contribute to it. We have two complementary and parallel aims. First, we will apply our new methods to identify all of the genes required by the algae to achieve high concentrations of carbon dioxide inside the cells, and we will discover exactly how these genes work. Second, we will transfer the most important genes into a plant, and study whether the same CCM can be recreated inside a leaf. If it can, we expect that our experimental plant will have higher rates of photosynthesis and hence a higher rate of growth than normal plants. This work will provide new insights into how plants and algae acquire and use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, of great importance in predicting and coping with the current rapid changes in the atmosphere and hence in climate. The work will also contribute to strategies to increase global food security, because it will indicate new ways in which crop productivity can be increased.

在大多数植物中，生长速率受大气中二氧化碳的速率的限制，并在光合作用过程中转化为糖。负责此过程中第一步的酶Rubisco在大气中存在的二氧化碳的当前水平上无法以其潜在的最大效率起作用。如果水平更高，光合作用将更快，并且植物的生长速度会更快。随着人类活动引起的大气二氧化碳水平上升，光合作用的加速速度将自然发生。但是，立即要求提高农作物生产力，以为地球上升的人口提供食物。我们的项目解决了这个问题。我们正在研究一种在微小的绿藻中存在的机制，该机制导致其光合作用细胞内高浓度的二氧化碳（称为碳浓缩机制或CCM），使Rubisco能够以最大的效率工作。我们最近发现了有关此机制的重要新信息，并且我们发明了新的快速方法来发现对它有助的藻类基因。我们有两个互补和平行的目标。首先，我们将采用新方法来识别藻类在细胞内实现高浓度二氧化碳所需的所有基因，我们将准确地发现这些基因的工作原理。其次，我们将将最重要的基因转移到植物中，并研究是否可以在叶片内重新创建相同的CCM。如果可以的话，我们预计我们的实验植物的光合作用速率将比正常工厂更高。这项工作将提供有关植物和藻类如何从大气中获取和使用二氧化碳的新见解，这对于预测和应对当前大气的快速变化以及因此气候中的迅速变化而非常重要。这项工作还将有助于提高全球粮食安全的策略，因为这将表明可以提高作物生产力的新方法。