
UC Riverside Researchers Discover Building Blocks of Photosynthesis
January 25, 2023 |
Scientists at the University of California Riverside (UC Riverside) have successfully decoded previously unknown signals that plants send to themselves to initiate photosynthesis. Led by UCR botany professor Meng Chen, the research team found four proteins containing building blocks that trigger photosynthesis.
Chen's team has previously shown that certain proteins in plant nuclei are activated by light, kicking off photosynthesis. The four newly identified proteins are part of that reaction, sending a signal that transforms small organs into chloroplasts, which generate growth-fueling sugars. Chen has compared the whole process of photosynthesis to a symphony. He said that “the conductors of the symphony are proteins in the nucleus called photoreceptors that respond to light." His team showed in their paper in Nature Communications that both red and blue light-sensitive photoreceptors initiate the symphony and activate genes that encode the building blocks of photosynthesis.
According to Chen, the unique situation, in this case, is that the symphony is performed in two “rooms” in the cell, by both local (nucleus) and remote musicians. The conductors (photoreceptors), who are present only in the nucleus, must send the remotely located musicians some messages over a distance. This last step is then controlled by the four recently-discovered proteins that travel from the nucleus to the chloroplasts.
For more details, read the article in UC Riverside News.
|
You might also like:
- Experts Unravel One Big Secret of Photosynthesis
- Discovery Ends Long-Standing Photosynthesis Controversy
- Experts Unlock Key to Photosynthesis
Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- Adoption Delay of New Technology Always Disadvantageous to Consumers
- Media and Politics Affect GMO Adoption for Food in Uganda
- UC Riverside Researchers Discover Building Blocks of Photosynthesis
- Asia-Pacific Faces Threat of Urban Food Insecurity
- Building Knowledge and Regulatory Capacity in Animal Biotech in Response to Climate Change
- B-SAFE Webinar Series: Biotechnology Applications and Impact on the Philippine Livestock Industry
- EFSA Publishes Criteria for Risk Assessment of Plants Produced by Targeted Mutagenesis, Cisgenesis, and Intragenesis
-
Plant
- Single Guide RNA for CRISPR-Cas9 System Based on Rice Bacterial Blight Resistance Gene
-
Read the latest: - Biotech Updates (April 30, 2025)
- Gene Editing Supplement (April 30, 2025)
- Gene Drive Supplement (February 22, 2023)
-
Subscribe to BU: - Share
- Tweet