Plants' CO2 Response Signaling Factor May Hold Clues for Global Warming

A report published online in "Nature Cell Biotechnology" on March 6, 2006 described how a team of researchers at Kyushu University and the University of California discovered a protein factor that affects the response of plants to carbon dioxide. Little is known about the CO2-sensing mechanism of plants, but it is expected that findings from the analysis of this signaling factor will be applied to breeding plants with enhanced CO2 absorption.

Plants absorb CO2 through pores called stomata on leaf surfaces. The size of a stoma's opening changes in response to the concentration of atmospheric CO2, wide open at low CO2 levels and closed at high CO2 levels. The team screened Arabidopsis mutants with impaired CO2 response, analyzed the responsible gene, and found the enzyme kinase is an important factor in CO2 sensing.

The team has been isolating several other mutants of Arabidopsis that show an abnormal CO2 response. By analyzing the genes responsible for the mutation, the team aims to unravel the whole picture of plants' CO2-sensing mechanism.

Professor Ko Iba and his group at Kyushu University were successful in the experimental breeding of genetically modified tobacco with high-temperature tolerance in 2000. The findings from this research project may also serve as a stepping stone toward improved plant varieties that can contribute to curbing global warming.

http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/v8/n4/abs/ncb1387.html

Posted: 2006/09/10 11:06:18 PM
Japanese version