Shedding Light on the Power of Light

Moses, Tessa

doi:10.1104/pp.19.00045

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At least three kinds of photosynthesis, namely C3, C4, and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), are found in plants based on a set of characteristics, such as the identity of the first molecule produced upon CO 2 fixation, photorespiratory rate, and natural habitat ( Moses, 2019 ). The central enzyme of the CBC, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), catalyzes the carboxylation reaction of RuBP (CO 2 fixation) to form two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate (3PGA) in the first step of the C3 photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle ( Moses, 2019 ). Because carboxylation and oxygenation occur within the same active site of the RuBisCO in all photosynthetic organisms, and the enzyme does not discriminate well between CO 2 and O 2 , the concentration ratio of CO 2 to O 2 in the vicinity of RuBisCO determines the efficiency of CO 2 fixation ( Betti et al., 2016 , Hagemann and Bauwe, 2016 , Nölke et al., 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of plants (∼85%), including major crops such as wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), rice ( Oryza sativa ), and soybean ( Glycine max ), have a C3-type metabolism ( Stitt, 2013 , Moses, 2019 ). In contrast to C3, in which oxygenase activity of RuBisCO causes a significant waste of resources, some plant species, as well as cyanobacteria and algae, have evolved carbon concentration mechanisms (CCMs) to favor the carboxylase activity of RuBisCO and thus limit their photorespiratory rates known as C4 and CAM photosynthesis ( Peterhänsel et al., 2013 , Long et al., 2016 , Nowicka et al., 2018 , Nölke et al., 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In view of the complexity and the importance of light reactions of photosynthesis, it is not surprising that not only an efficient and robust apparatus but also flexibility in the responses to changing environmental conditions is required ( Kramer et al., 2004 ). This fact aside, many scholars have argued that overall plant photosynthesis is remarkably inefficient, since many drawbacks have been identified within this system ( Kornienko et al., 2018 , Éva et al., 2019 , Moses, 2019 ). To begin with, less than half of the average solar spectrum incident on the earth's surface (corresponding to the photosynthetically active fraction of 400–740 nm) can be used to drive oxygenic photosynthesis in plants ( Moses, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Engineering Improved Photosynthesis in the Era of Synthetic Biology

Batista‐Silva

Fonseca‐Pereira

Martins

et al. 2020

Plant Communications

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Much attention has been given to the enhancement of photosynthesis as a strategy for the optimization of crop productivity. As traditional plant breeding is most likely reaching a plateau, there is a timely need to accelerate improvements in photosynthetic efficiency by means of novel tools and biotechnological solutions. The emerging field of synthetic biology offers the potential for building completely novel pathways in predictable directions and, thus, addresses the global requirements for higher yields expected to occur in the 21st century. Here, we discuss recent advances and current challenges of engineering improved photosynthesis in the era of synthetic biology toward optimized utilization of solar energy and carbon sources to optimize the production of food, fiber, and fuel.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Engineering Improved Photosynthesis in the Era of Synthetic Biology

Batista‐Silva

Fonseca‐Pereira

Martins

et al. 2020

Plant Communications

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“…Starting with SynBio-enabled engineering of plant metabolism, three Update Reviews and one Research Article cover photosynthesis and plastid metabolism. The Update by Leister (2019) explores progress and prospects in applying SynBio to the light reactions of photosynthesis, both to enhance the efficiency of light use in crops and to couple the light reactions in novel ways to enzymes or nonbiological components that use the reducing power from the light reactions (see also the News and Views article in this issue by Moses, 2019). The Update by Boehm and Bock (2019) explains the promise of the plastid genome as a platform for engineering plant metabolism, describes tools and technologies for plastid SynBio, and highlights challenges for future research in this area.…”

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confidence: 99%

Focus Issue Editorial: Synthetic Biology

et al. 2019

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Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a conceptual and operational revolution (Church et al., 2014) that's coming soon to a branch of plant science near you, if it's not there already (Liu and Stewart, 2015). The Synthetic Biology Focus Issue sets out to spread this disruptive news. SynBio is a transformative combination of DNA technology, engineering principles, and computational tools that makes it possible to design new life processes and to repurpose existing natural ones for useful purposes (Purnick and Weiss, 2009). SynBio will profoundly impact and empower how plant science is done and how plant science is used to sustainably solve global problems. SynBio is already creating new jobs and is likely to keep doing this for decades (Delebecque and Philp, 2015). SynBio is powerful for conceptual and operational reasons. The enormous conceptual power of SynBio is to open access to the vast "design space" that plants, and nature in general, have not explored (Bhatia et al., 2017). By discovering and deploying useful design space that evolution has "missed," SynBio enables plants: to make familiar compounds by new pathways, and make new-to-nature compounds; to supply genes needed to make high-value compounds in microorganisms; to manipulate familiar morphological structures, and build totally new-to-nature ones; to respond in new ways to old stimuli, and sense and respond to totally new stimuli; and to be managed based on weather forecasts and other predictions that plants cannot make themselves. The transformative operational power of SynBio lies in its drive to industrialize biology: that is, to replace highskill, slow, and costly artisanal work such as cloning and custom assays with computationally guided, automated, and standardized engineering procedures (Cameron et al., 2014; Chao et al., 2017). Although the industrialscale engineering potential of SynBio is far from fully realized at this point (Davies, 2019), it is very much here to stay and has begun to dictate major changes in biology education and training (National Research Council, 2015). Whether you are a trainee or a trainer, these trends are seriously worth considering for your future career's sake. A hallmark of SynBio is to rethink biological molecules, genes and proteins, as engineering "parts" that can be standardized, quantitatively characterized, and used to build a range of devices, much as standard resistors and capacitors are used as components in countless different electrical circuits (de Lorenzo and Schmidt, 2018). In the case of metabolic pathways, for instance, enzyme parts from plants or other organisms can be used as is and combined in novel ways to build

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