Enhancing Photosynthesis in Clamydomonas reinhardtii using carbonic anhydrase mimetics
Lead Research Organisation:
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
This project will impact upon the societal challenge affecting the globe, as to how we cater for the food, fibre and fuel needs of an ever-increasing population. Photosynthetic efficiency is only ~1% whereas the theoretical maximum is ~6-8% giving potential for great improvements. One major cause of this inefficiency is due to the
Calvin cycle, which consists of a network of enzymes involved in carbon assimilation. Typical enzymes process ~1000 molecules s-1, but the Calvin cycle enzyme, Rubisco, fixes only ~3 CO2 molecules per second. Furthermore, this enzyme suffers from a lack of specificity, meaning that it cannot only catalyse the reaction with CO2, but also a competing reaction with O2, which causes a loss to the plant. This causes a constant drain on the sugar
substrate pool, and results in a decrease of carbon fixation efficiency by ~50%. Plant cells compensate by making
Rubisco the most abundant enzyme on earth, but this comes at a cost, with a large proportion of the plant's
nitrogen requirements resulting from the need to produce the enzyme.
Calvin cycle, which consists of a network of enzymes involved in carbon assimilation. Typical enzymes process ~1000 molecules s-1, but the Calvin cycle enzyme, Rubisco, fixes only ~3 CO2 molecules per second. Furthermore, this enzyme suffers from a lack of specificity, meaning that it cannot only catalyse the reaction with CO2, but also a competing reaction with O2, which causes a loss to the plant. This causes a constant drain on the sugar
substrate pool, and results in a decrease of carbon fixation efficiency by ~50%. Plant cells compensate by making
Rubisco the most abundant enzyme on earth, but this comes at a cost, with a large proportion of the plant's
nitrogen requirements resulting from the need to produce the enzyme.
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