Functional hybrid rubisco enzymes with plant small subunits and algal large subunits: engineered rbcS cDNA for expression in chlamydomonas.

ABSTRACT: There has been much interest in the chloroplast-encoded large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) as a target for engineering an increase in net CO(2) fixation in photosynthesis. Improvements in the enzyme would lead to an increase in the production of food, fiber, and renewable energy. Although the large subunit contains the active site, a family of rbcS nuclear genes encodes the Rubisco small subunits, which can also influence the carboxylation catalytic efficiency and CO(2)/O(2) specificity of the enzyme. To further define the role of the small subunit in Rubisco function, small subunits from spinach, Arabidopsis, and sunflower were assembled with algal large subunits by transformation of a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant that lacks the rbcS gene family

SUBMITTER: Genkov T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2888394 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature