Researchers have created a multifunctional hybrid Protein that resembles a molecular Swiss Army knife in cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, organisms that have many potential uses for making green chemicals or biofuels.
The team has done in a year what has taken millions of years to evolve. In the current issue of Plant Cell, they describe how they fabricated a synthetic Protein that not only improves the assembly of the carbon-fixing factory of cyanobacteria, but also provides a proof of concept for a device that could potentially improve plant photosynthesis or be used to install new metabolic pathways in bacteria.
"The multifunctional Protein we've built can be compared to a Swiss Army knife," said Raul Gonzalez-Esquer, MSU doctoral researcher and the paper's lead author. "From known, existing parts, we've built a new Protein that does several essential functions."
The findings could ultimately lead to a device that could potentially improve plant photosynthesis and enhance its ability to remove carbon dioxide from atmosphere.
"The multifunctional Protein we have built can be compared to a Swiss Army knife," said lead study author Raul Gonzalez-Esquer from Michigan State University in the US.
"From known, existing parts, we have built a new Protein that does several essential functions," Gonzalez-Esquer noted.
By fabricating a synthetic Protein that improves the assembly of the carbon-fixing factory of cyanobacteria, the team has done in a year what has taken millions of years to evolve, the study said.
"It is comparable to making coffee. Rather than getting an oven to roast the coffee beans, a grinder to process them and a brewing machine, we've built a single coffeemaker where it all happens in one place," Gonzalez-Esquer said.
"The new tool takes raw material and produces the finished product with a smaller investment," he noted.
The study appeared in the journal Plant Cell.
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