Photosynthesis News and Research

RSS

Photosynthesis is a chemical process by which plants, some bacteria, and algae convert energy derived from sunlight to chemical energy. This is an important process for biological life on earth because it allows energy from sunlight to be harnessed and transferred into a form that can be utilized by organisms to fuel their activity.

New approach to biomaterial production may ease environmental burden of forestry, agriculture

It takes a lot to make a wooden table. Grow a tree, cut it down, transport it, mill it ... you get the point. It's a decades-long process. Luis Fernando Velásquez-García suggests a simpler solution: "If you want a table, then you should just grow a table."

22 Jan 2021

Researchers show how the genetic material travels from cell to cell

The genetic material of plants, animals, and humans is well protected in the nucleus of each cell and stores all the information that forms an organism. For example, information about the size or color of flowers, hair or fur is predefined here.

12 Jan 2021

Semi-artificial electrode could convert light energy into other energy forms in biosolar cells

A research team from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), together with colleagues from Lisbon, has produced a semi-artificial electrode that could convert light energy into other forms of energy in biosolar cells.

22 Dec 2020

Terrestrial ecosystems are becoming less efficient in climate change mitigation

Land ecosystems currently play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide (CO2) plants and trees absorb during photosynthesis, the process they use to make food, the less CO2 remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise.

From NASA 21 Dec 2020

Studies examine greenhouse gas emissions and forest degradation

Land use and land-use change are thought to be responsible for about 23% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

17 Dec 2020

Microbes act as efficient microscopic fuel cell, shows study

By borrowing nature's blueprints for photosynthesis, Cornell University bioengineers have found a way to efficiently absorb and store large-scale, low-cost renewable energy from the sun - while sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide to use later as a biofuel.

16 Dec 2020

Biochemist discovers hidden cellular machinery essential for higher-order life

In his first year of graduate school, Rice University biochemist Zachary Wright discovered something hidden inside a common piece of cellular machinery that's essential for all higher order life from yeast to humans.

7 Dec 2020

Genetically engineered organisms can help mitigate atmospheric carbon

Climate change has become a crucial issue in the world. But in spite of agreements to combat climate change, global temperatures continue to rise.

12 Nov 2020

Some crops are not adapted to gain from elevated CO2 levels

The U.S. backs out of the Paris climate agreement even as carbon dioxide (CO2) levels continue to rise. Through photosynthesis, plants are able to turn CO2 into yield. Logic tells us that more CO2 should boost crop production, but a new review from the University of Illinois shows that some crops, including corn, are adapted to a pre-industrial environment and cannot distribute their resources effectively to take advantage of extra CO2.

6 Nov 2020

A stepwise approach to increase crop yield

GAIN4CROPS is developing novel disruptive technologies to overcome one of the main constraints of photosynthesis: the photorespiration, a process that reduces CO2 assimilation efficiency, and thus biomass yield and agricultural productivity.

6 Nov 2020

Researcher creates “leaf profile” of components involved in CO2 journey

During the process of photosynthesis, leaves trap the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and convert it into organic compounds.

4 Nov 2020

Study shows how global crop production may be impacted by rising CO2 levels

Five years ago, the United Nations committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030. Since then, however, world hunger has continued to rise.

3 Nov 2020

Scientists sequence full genome of ornamental variety of miscanthus

An international research team has sequenced the full genome of an ornamental variety of miscanthus, a wild perennial grass emerging as a prime candidate for sustainable bioenergy crops.

30 Oct 2020

Study highlights the importance of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms in ecosystem diversity

Research at the University of Guam has shown that the decomposition of leaf litter from three threatened tree species releases nitrogen and carbon into the soil for use by other plants.

28 Oct 2020

Cyanobacteria As "Green" Catalysts In Biotechnology

Cyanobacteria are known as "blue-green algae", and convert light energy into chemical energy effectively thanks to their active photosynthetic cells.

7 Oct 2020

Microbial electrosynthesis coupled with a renewable energy supply for recycling carbon dioxide

Semiconductive photocatalysts that efficiently absorb solar energy could help reduce the energy required to drive a bioelectrochemical process that converts CO2 emissions into valuable chemicals, KAUST researchers have shown.

7 Oct 2020

Researchers identify gene related to seed dispersal in green millet

For years, Elizabeth (Toby) Kellogg, PhD, member and Robert E. King Distinguished Investigator and other researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (Danforth Center) drove up and down the highways of the continental United States, occasionally pulling over to the side of the road to collect small weedy plants and bring them back to the lab.

6 Oct 2020

Corals' response to climate change could depend on iron

How well corals respond to climate change could depend in part on the already scarce amount of iron available in their environment, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers.

1 Oct 2020

Study warns the negative effects of ocean warming and acidification on planktonic communities

A new study led by researchers from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona warns that the negative effects of rapid ocean warming on planktonic communities will be exacerbated by ocean acidification.

1 Oct 2020

Study shows ecological consequences of extreme air pollution in the Arctic

An international team of scientists that includes a USDA Forest Service scientist based in New Hampshire used tree rings to document how "Arctic dimming," the interference with sunlight caused by extreme pollution such as that at an industrial complex in northern Siberia, is killing trees and possibly affecting how trees respond to climate change.

30 Sep 2020