New Enzyme Allows Plants to Grow in Dry and High CO2 Conditions
18 December 2009 | Green News | No Comments
Increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and reduction of water resources are two major problems on our planet. Despite these degradation processes, researchers at the University of California San Diego have discovered some plant enzymes able to solve these two problems simultaneously.
In other words, these special enzymes can allow plants to save water while consuming more carbon dioxide. In this way water resources will be saved and the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will be reduced.
Actually, this enzyme influences plant responses to carbon dioxide and cause a change in how the plant pores works. Until now, scientists knew that if these pores are shrinking, water can be saved when there is enough CO2 in the atmosphere. But this was only a theory so far. So, researchers have realized that these pores can be modified depending on protein sensors. Controlling protein sensors researchers managed to create a plant that can absorb a large amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and at the same time can save water resources (require less watering).
“A lot of plants have a very weak response to CO2. So even though atmospheric CO2 is much higher than it was before the industrial age and is continuing to increase, there are plants that are not capitalizing on that. They’re not narrowing their pores, which would allow them to take in CO2, while losing less water…It could be that with these enzymes, you can improve how efficiently plants use water, while taking in CO2 for photosynthesis. Our data in the lab suggest that the CO2 response can be cranked up.”, said Julian Schroeder, professor of biology at the University of California.
Plants may have different temperaments towards the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Some plants will grow normally in the presence of carbon dioxide and other plants may not grow normally in same conditions. This means that some plants lose the opportunity to conserve water. Using genetic knowledge, Schroeder’s team identified a pair of proteins able to modify plant temperament towards atmospheric carbon dioxide. These experiments may lead to the birth of a new type of plant, more drought resistant, able to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and also able to save water. I think that, with such crops located in areas severely affected by carbon emissions, these problems will finally have a solution. Can you believe that such plantations could change the climate evolution in the world?
Tags: atmospheric carbon dioxide, atmospheric CO2, carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, climate evolution, CO2 in the atmosphere, conserve water, drought resistant plant, genetic knowledge, Increasing levels of CO2, photosynthesis, plant enzymes, plant pores, Plant temperament, plants use water, protein sensors, response to CO2, save wate, special enzymes, Water resources, watering