New article: Scientists find a protein may save U.S. farmers millions read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/science/item/3162-scientists-find-a-protein-may-save-u-s-farmers-millions

A study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has shown that a newly characterized protein could protect plants from toxicity, potentially saving U.S. farmers millions annually.

A problem in agriculture is many plants make a plant-toxic compound during photosynthesis instead of turning carbon into food. This plant-toxic compound is then recycled through a process called photorespiration.

Researchers at the University of Illinois discovered a key protein in photorespiration they say may be manipulated to increase plant productivity.

Don Ort, a USDA/ARS scientist and professor of plant biology at the University of Illinois, said, photorespiration is essential for C3 plants, such as rice and soybeans, but operates at the massive expense of fixed carbon and energy. We have identified photorespiration as a primary target to improve photosynthetic efficiency as a strategy to improve crop yield.

Researchers found the plant protein Bile Acid Sodium Symporter 6 (BASS6), transports the toxic product glycolate out of the chloroplast where it is recycled into a useful sugar molecule. The useful molecules, called glycerates, release carbon dioxide and harmful ammonia while sacrificing energy.

It has been long known that plant chloroplasts export two molecules of glycolate to recover one molecule of glycerate, however, the chemical equation did not make sense until the discovery of the function of BASS6.

 

Berkley Walker, of the University of Dusseldorf, said, we could feed around 200 million people with the calories lost to photorespiration each year in the Midwestern United States. While we can't get all that yield back, even saving 5 percent of the energy lost in photorespiration would be worth millions of dollars annually.

More information:[Plant cell]