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Phylogenetic grafting of bacterial red-type Rubisco to enhance green photosynthesis

Crystal structure-guided exchange of mobile elements from red algal Rubisco into a related bacterial Rubisco enabled us to identify amino acid substitutions that enhance carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation. In tobacco plants, the improved Rubisco supported a two-fold increase in photosynthetic rates compared with plants producing wild-type bacterial Rubisco.

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Fig. 1: Beneficial impact of RsRubisco–chi11 catalytic improvements on tobacco photosynthesis.

References

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This is a summary of: Zhou, Y. et al. Grafting Rhodobacter sphaeroides with red algae Rubisco to accelerate catalysis and plant growth. Nat. Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01436-7 (2023).

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Phylogenetic grafting of bacterial red-type Rubisco to enhance green photosynthesis. Nat. Plants 9, 862–863 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01437-6

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