Researchers succeed at generating 3D visualizations of chloroplasts’ copying machines
Researchers have visualized chloroplast RNA polymerase PEP in 3D, crucial for photosynthesis. The study unveils insights into its structure and function, essential for gene activation. This groundbreaking work aids understanding of photosynthesis evolution, potentially influencing future biotechnological applications.
What was the most momentous world changing development in plant #evolution
(if you choose something else please say what it was— and let’s take “#photosynthesis” and “first land plants” off the list since those are kinda obviously a huge deal.)
So far, although we had #genetic and #oxygen#data supporting early photosynthesis, it was difficult to find clear fossil #evidence directly. Now, we have!
They are a biofertiliser, looking like they could walk, and they cooperate with plants, fungi, and bacteria. Often they help moss to survive. I held their small laboratory in my hand, "invented" by Earth about 2,5 billion years ago! https://www.cronenburg.net/nostoc/
As children we thought it was an alien invasion. The "things" could somehow move around. We often found it on the patio. Here they marched from the fields onto the path.😉
Indeed, #Nostoc or star jelly / spit of moon is a fascinating colony-building #cyanobacteria capable of #photosynthesis. Nostoc is a master of survival, symbiotic with #plants, #fungi, and other #bacteria. It can help moss to survive on bare rocks.
A very productive hour spent learning about Earth's primary productivity (organic molecules produced) over time via a talk by Peter Crockford, Carleton University.
Fun fact: every carbon atom has likely be cycled through an organism ~100 times over the last 3+ billion years!
Crockford et al., The geologic history of primary productivity, Current Biology (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.cub.2023.09.040
Perspectives call for engineering #photosynthesis to increase carbon capture and increase food production, for using #SyntheticBiology to enhance climate resilience in plants & garnering public support, to consider how the #microbiome of cropland soils could be manipulated to accelerate soil #carboncapture, and for more & better public–private partnerships in #crop research
People still think of #ClimateChange in terms of storms, heat waves, and/or sea-level rise. The scariest aspect isn't even on most people's radars.
#Photosynthesis has an upper temperature limit. It's based on chemical laws and no amount of technology can change that. Without photosynthesis, WE ALL STARVE.
The optimum range for most food plants is 25-35C. 77F to 95F.
UChicago researchers hope "islands" of exciton condensation could pave the way for new discoveries. Inside a lab, scientists marvel at a strange state that forms when they cool down atoms to nearly absolute zero. Meanwhile, just outside their window, trees are absorbing sunlight and converting it
TIL Plants take advantage of #chaos to more efficiently photosynthesize.
"The researchers also found that proteins arranged in a lattice structure showed less efficient energy transfer than proteins that were arranged in randomly organized structures, as they usually are in living cells."
"'Ordered organization is actually less efficient than the disordered organization of biology, which we think is really interesting because biology tends to be disordered. This finding tells us that that may not just be an inevitable downside of biology, but organisms may have evolved to take advantage of it,' Schlau-Cohen says."
Only a single particle of light is required to spark the first steps of the biological process that converts light into chemical energy, scientists report.
"Overall, there is almost no ice over four years old remaining—it now comprises just 3 percent of the total ice cover. This is the same percentage as last year and contrasts starkly with the late 1980s when 30 to 35 percent of the Arctic Ocean’s ice was older than 4 years."
Thank you very much for sharing this interesting aspect.
I shall read it later on.
Is this similar to the #phototrophs of the #Archean Eon (07:16 min, see link below) 3.6-2.5 bn yrs ago, which invented #photosynthesis, using hydrogen and dissolving sulphite to create sulphur and suphuric acid?
#InFynity is utilizing a fungi #protein to prepare nutritious and delicious foods. #Nolux is producing plant- and fungal-based food using artificial #photosynthesis. #MuMycology uses a closed-loop mushroom 🍄 cultivation system allowing for scalable growth of various edible mushrooms. #KernelDeltech produces inactivated fungal biomass using a continuous cultivation technique. #InterstellarLab produces fresh microgreens, vegetables, mushrooms 🍄, and insects 🐜 to provide micronutrients for long-term #SpaceMissions. #FarOutFoods developed a nearly closed-loop food production system called the Exo-Garden that is capable of producing a variety of mushrooms 🍄 and hydroponic vegetables. #SATED well-known foods from long-shelf-life ingredients. #AirCompany developed a system that captures carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts to produce #alcohol that is then fed to an edible yeast to make proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/nasa-announces-finalists-in-challenge-to-design-future-astronaut-food
Extreme heat could make photosynthesis impossible for tropical trees and plants that may all die as a result, a new study found. (www.businessinsider.com)
Extreme heat messes with tropical trees' photosynthesis, causing the plants to die, a study found. Climate change may make this a widespread problem.
Quantum Physics in a Leaf? Scientists Discover Link Between Photosynthesis and the “Fifth State of Matter” (scitechdaily.com)
UChicago researchers hope "islands" of exciton condensation could pave the way for new discoveries. Inside a lab, scientists marvel at a strange state that forms when they cool down atoms to nearly absolute zero. Meanwhile, just outside their window, trees are absorbing sunlight and converting it