Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
The enzyme RuBisCO is essential for photosynthesis. But it kind of sucks at is job, and it’s getting worse with extreme heat.
Proof of Concept is a video series profiling the science and scientists behind some of the environment’s most unexpected research. To see a written version of this story, visit our website:
grist.org/video/plant-enzyme-rubsico-experiment-heat-photosynthesis
Video by Jesse Nichols
Senior Producer: Daniel Penner
Deputy Editor: Teresa Chin
Executive Editor: Kat Bagley
Illustrator: Estelle Caswell
Sources:
Robbie Wilson
Ahmed Badran
Mary Gehring
David Eisenberg
Berkley Walker
MIT J-WAFS EPiC Program
https://jwafs.mit.edu/projects/2023/enhanced-photosynthesis-crops
Erb et al. 2017
“A short history of RubisCO: The rise and fall (?) of Nature’s predominant CO2 fixing enzyme”
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7610757/pdf/EMS123372.pdf
Bouvier et al. 2024
“Rubisco is evolving for improved catalytic efficiency and CO2 assimilation in plants”
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2321050121
Wildman 2002
“Along the trail from Fraction I protein to Rubisco”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16245127
Chibnall 1939
“Protein Metabolism in the Plant”
Prywes et al. 2023
“Rubisco Function, Evolution, and Engineering”
annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-biochem-040320-101244
Aigner et al. 2017
“Plant RuBisCo assembly in E. coli with five chloroplast chaperones including BSD2”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29217567
C4 Rice Project
c4rice.com/the-science/photosynthetic-pathways
The enzyme RuBisCO is essential for photosynthesis. But it kind of sucks at is job, and it’s getting worse with extreme heat.
Proof of Concept is a video series profiling the science and scientists behind some of the environment’s most unexpected research. To see a written version of this story, visit our website:
grist.org/video/plant-enzyme-rubsico-experiment-heat-photosynthesis
Video by Jesse Nichols
Senior Producer: Daniel Penner
Deputy Editor: Teresa Chin
Executive Editor: Kat Bagley
Illustrator: Estelle Caswell
Sources:
Robbie Wilson
Ahmed Badran
Mary Gehring
David Eisenberg
Berkley Walker
MIT J-WAFS EPiC Program
https://jwafs.mit.edu/projects/2023/enhanced-photosynthesis-crops
Erb et al. 2017
“A short history of RubisCO: The rise and fall (?) of Nature’s predominant CO2 fixing enzyme”
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7610757/pdf/EMS123372.pdf
Bouvier et al. 2024
“Rubisco is evolving for improved catalytic efficiency and CO2 assimilation in plants”
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2321050121
Wildman 2002
“Along the trail from Fraction I protein to Rubisco”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16245127
Chibnall 1939
“Protein Metabolism in the Plant”
Prywes et al. 2023
“Rubisco Function, Evolution, and Engineering”
annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-biochem-040320-101244
Aigner et al. 2017
“Plant RuBisCo assembly in E. coli with five chloroplast chaperones including BSD2”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29217567
C4 Rice Project
c4rice.com/the-science/photosynthetic-pathways
