AMES, Iowa -- Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a concern to many environmentalists who research global warming.
The lack of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, however, actually limits the growth of plants and their aquatic relatives, microalgae.
For plants and microalgae, CO2 is vital to growth. It fuels their photosynthesis process that, along with sunlight, manufactures sugars required for growth.
CO2 is present in such a limiting concentration that microalgae and some plants have evolved mechanisms to capture and concentrate CO2 in their cells to improve photosynthetic efficiency and increase growth.
An Iowa State University researcher has now identified one of the key proteins in the microalgae responsible for concentrating and moving that CO2 into cells.
"This is a real breakthrough," said Martin Spalding, professor and chair of the department of genetics, development and cell biology. "No one had previously identified any of the proteins that are involved in transporting CO2 in microalgae."
The main protein that Spalding and his team have identified that is responsible for transporting CO2 is called HLA3.
The research by Spalding; Deqiang Duanmu, a graduate student in Spalding's department; and Amy Miller, Kempton Horken and Donald Weeks, all from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; is published in the current issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Now that the HLA3 protein has been identified, Spalding believes there are several possibilities to use the gene that encodes this protein.
The recent explosion of interest in using microalgae for production of biofuels raises the possibility of increasing photosynthesis and productivity in microalgae by increasing expression of HLA3 or other compo
'/>"/>
| Contact: Martin Spalding mspaldin@iastate.edu 515-294-1749 Iowa State University Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. Stem cell therapy makes cloudy corneas clear, according to Pitt researchers
2. Biomedical researchers invited to design experiments for the International Space Station
3. Caltech researchers train computers to analyze fruit-fly behavior
4. International climate change researchers meet, review latest findings
5. Einstein researchers devise a fast and sensitive way to detect ricin
6. NC State researchers find soy may aid in treating canine cancers
7. Queens researchers shine light on compact fluorescent bulb problems
8. Penn researchers demonstrate a new model for drug discovery with a fluorescent anesthetic
9. Researchers discover primer to plant defense system
10. University of Kansas graduate student researcher takes aim at deadly brain tumors
11. MDC researchers prevent virus induced myocarditis
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |