Screening for superior Rubisco from various plant species via improvement of its methodology

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19059
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 38:Agricultural chemistry and related fields
• Research Institution: Iwate University
• Principal Investigator: Suzuki Yuji 岩手大学, 農学部, 教授 (80374974)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: Rubisco / 酵素的特性 / スクリーニング / 野生植物 / 実験系の改良

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, photosynthetic carbon fixing enzyme Rubisco with superior enzymatic properties was screened from various plant species via improvement of its methodology. Firstly, a sample preparation method that prevented the maleffects caused by leaf content was developed to expand the range of plant species whose Rubisco activity could be measured. Then, superior Rubisco was screened from plants tolerant to cold stress including alpine plants and evolutionary old plants including ferns and conifers. Although superior Rubisco could not be found, some surprising findings were obtained. For example, some horsetails had abundant Rubisco with high catalytic turnover rates comparable to those in C4 plants. Some club mosses had Rubisco fairly less than expected from their catalytic turnover rates. The elevated atmospheric CO2 environments when the ancestors of these plants diverged or diversified possbly led to such Rubisco properties, which were inherited to these plants.

Free Research Field

植物栄養学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の最終的な目的は果たせなかったが、Rubiscoの活性測定が可能な植物種を広げたという技術的進展は、今後のRubiscoの高性能化を介した光合成能力強化の研究にとって大きなプラスとなる。また、本研究で得られたRubiscoの特性に関する知見は、これまでの光合成研究の常識を覆すものであり、学術的な価値が高い。さらに、これらの原因を植物の進化の過程に関連付けて議論できたため、広い範囲の植物科学にとってもインパクトを与えることができたと考えられる。