Photosynthesis is a chemical process by which plants, some bacteria, and algae convert energy derived from sunlight to chemical energy. This is an important process for biological life on earth because it allows energy from sunlight to be harnessed and transferred into a form that can be utilized by organisms to fuel their activity.
Fruit and vegetable storage life can be significantly impacted by mold and fungi-based diseases. Some fungi, however, help their hosts by promoting plant survival.
Investigators have grown bacterial cells in potential sand-based construction materials, according to a recent study published in Research Directions: Biotechnology Design, a new journal from Cambridge University Press.
In-cell engineering can be a powerful tool for synthesizing functional protein crystals with promising catalytic properties, show researchers at Tokyo Tech.
In-cell engineering can be a powerful tool for synthesizing functional protein crystals with promising catalytic properties, show researchers at Tokyo Tech.
Climate change is affecting the types of plant varieties we can cultivate, as well as how and where we can do so. A new collection of articles in the open access journal PLOS Biology explores the twin challenges of engineering plants for resilience to climate change and enhancing their carbon-capture potential.
For the first time, RIPE scientists revealed that manipulating chloroplast size is unlikely to be an option for enhancing crop photosynthetic efficiency.
A group of researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), in São Paulo state, Brazil, has developed an algorithm that projects the future of vegetation in the Amazon, presenting scenarios for transformation of the forest driven by climate change.
The vast underground network of fungi beneath our feet stores over 13 gigatons of carbon around the world, roughly equivalent to 36 per cent of yearly global fossil fuel emissions, according to new research.
Mycorrhizal fungi have indeed been supporting terrestrial life for at least 450 million years by providing plants with soil nutrients necessary for growth. Scientists have discovered that, in addition to creating symbiotic connections with nearly all land plants, these fungi are key carbon transporters into soil ecosystems.
A climate feedback loop that can expedite climate change has been determined by scientists studying a group of extensive but often neglected microbes. However, it is not all bad news: this one shows an early warning signal.
Take a deep breath. Now take nine more. According to new research, the amount of oxygen in one of those 10 breaths was made possible thanks to a newly identified cellular mechanism that promotes photosynthesis in marine phytoplankton.
Plant growth is driven by light and supplied with energy through photosynthesis by green leaves. It is the same for roots that grow in the dark – they receive the products of photosynthesis, in particular sucrose, i.e. sugar, via the central transportation pathways of phloem.
The cycle sequence of important activities in vegetation is a particularly sensitive indicator of climatic changes in terrestrial ecosystems. Most recent studies have focused on structural changes in plants, such as employing greenness indicators to represent the growth process of leaves.
Along with sugar reallocation, a basic molecular mechanism within plants controls the formation of new lateral roots. An international team of plant biologists has demonstrated that it is based on the activity of a certain factor, the target of rapamycin (TOR) protein. A better understanding of the processes that regulate root branching at the molecular level could contribute to improving plant growth and therefore crop yields, according to research team leader Prof. Dr Alexis Maizel of the Centre for Organismal Studies at Heidelberg University.
New Curtin University research has found reef-building corals living deep underwater off the coast of Western Australia’s Kimberley region survive despite a lack of sunlight by kicking into ‘photosynthesis overdrive’ to enhance their ability to gain energy from sunlight and by upping their intake of microorganisms.
Photosynthesis plays a crucial role in shaping and sustaining life on Earth, yet many aspects of the process remain a mystery.
Ensuring the supply of food to the constantly growing world population and protecting the environment at the same time are often conflicting objectives.
The cells of living organisms are equipped with proteins that are involved in the shaping and remodeling of cellular membranes, thereby performing important tasks.
A group of researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil have grown microalgae under controlled conditions in a laboratory in order to use their metabolites, especially lipids, with the prime purpose of producing biofuel.
Soil stores more carbon than plants and the atmosphere combined, and soil microbes are largely responsible for putting it there.