Next-level Microscopy Reveals More About Photosynthesis at Atomic Level

Researchers from the John Innes Centre unveiled findings about photosynthesis at the atomic level, shedding light on the plant's capacity to provide food for itself. Their findings, published in Cell, present a model and resources for tools that can make crops more resilient.

“Transcription of chloroplast genes is a fundamental step in making the photosynthetic proteins that give plants the energy they need to grow. We hope that by understanding this process better – at the detailed molecular level – we will equip researchers looking to develop plants with more robust photosynthetic activity,” study leader Dr. Michael Webster explains.

The team used an advanced microscopy method known as cryo-EM to investigate how plants make photosynthetic proteins, the molecular machines that make this elegant chemical reaction happen, converting atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into simple sugars and producing oxygen as a byproduct.

According to the researchers, the most valuable outcome of their study is the development of a useful resource. Other researchers can download the atomic model of the chloroplast polymerase and use it to make their own hypotheses of its roles and devise experimental ways to test them.

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