Carbon dioxide binding proteins that enhance yield in high value crops

二氧化碳是地球上最重要的气体之一。二氧化碳对植物在光合作用、水分利用、酸碱平衡和免疫等多种过程中的调节功能至关重要。因此，了解二氧化碳影响植物蛋白质功能的分子基础对于植物对环境变化的响应这一具有重要战略意义的研究领域至关重要。全球生物群落面临着大气中二氧化碳的长期增加。预计这将对作物产生重大的生理影响。例如，在二氧化碳水平升高的情况下，水吸收减少可能对水文循环产生有害影响。此外，二氧化碳浓度升高可能会降低具有战略意义的重要作物的营养成分。因此，了解二氧化碳和蛋白质之间的相互作用对于理解21世纪粮食供应面临的挑战至关重要。鉴定二氧化碳的蛋白质靶标可以与开发可以从二氧化碳升高中受益的作物的努力相结合。此外，了解二氧化碳如何调节蛋白质功能对于开发基于蛋白质的碳捕获、封存和利用系统至关重要。不幸的是，与二氧化碳直接相互作用的植物蛋白的特性几乎完全未知。二氧化碳可以在中性N端氨基和赖氨酸氨基上形成氨基甲酸酯，调节核酮糖1,5-二磷酸羧化酶/加氧酶和血红蛋白的活性，然而，已知的其他蛋白质氨基甲酸酯很少。由于氨基甲酸酯形成的可逆性，目前还没有开发出系统地鉴定蛋白质氨甲酰化位点的工具，因此氨甲酰化通常被忽视为蛋白质翻译后修饰的候选物。我们已经开发了鉴定氨基甲酸酯蛋白的方法，使用化学遗传学来共价捕获蛋白质上的二氧化碳进行蛋白质组学分析。我们的方法表明氨甲酰化在生物学中广泛存在。因此，蛋白质-二氧化碳相互作用代表了一个令人兴奋的、在很大程度上被忽视的生物化学新领域，有待研究。本项目将研究蛋白质- co2及其对包括产量在内的植物生理特性的影响。该学生将使用化学遗传学和质谱相结合的方法来鉴定新的二氧化碳结合蛋白。二氧化碳结合对蛋白质功能的影响将通过分子生物学和生物化学进行研究。二氧化碳结合对蛋白质功能的影响将通过植物生理学、遗传学和生物化学的结合来研究。因此，该项目将提供一个真正的多学科培训机会。在本项目结束时，学生将建立氨甲酰化作为翻译后修饰介导植物中二氧化碳检测的关键机制。这将扩展我们对蛋白质调控的基本理解。此外，在项目完成后，学生将建立一个令人兴奋的和新颖的二氧化碳相互作用的蛋白质组（碳淀粉酶）的概念。

CO2 is one of the most important gases on Earth. CO2 is essential to plants with regulatory functions in processes as diverse as photosynthesis, water utilisation, acidbase homeostasis, and immunity. Understanding the molecular basis by which CO2 influences protein function in plants is therefore crucial to the strategically important research area of plant responses to environmental change.The global biome faces long term increases in atmospheric CO2. This is predicted to have a significant physiological impact on crops. For example, decreased water uptake at elevated CO2 levels is likely to have detrimental effects on the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, elevated CO2 is likely to decrease the nutritional content of strategically vital crops. Knowledge of the interactions between CO2 and proteins is therefore vital to understanding the challenges that face the 21st century food supply. Identification of protein targets for CO2 can be integrated with efforts to develop crops that can benefit from elevated CO2. Further, an understanding of how CO2 regulates protein function is essential for the development of protein based carbon capture, sequestration, and utilization systems. Unfortunately, the identities of plant proteins with which CO2 directly interacts are almost entirely unknown. CO2 can form carbamates on the neutral N terminal amino and lysine amino-groups that regulate the activities of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and haemoglobin, however, very few other protein carbamates are known. Tools for the systematic identification of protein carbamylation sites have not been developed owing to the ready reversibility of carbamate formation, and thus carbamylation is typically overlooked as a candidate for protein post-translational modification. We have developed methods to identify protein carbamates using chemical genetics to covalently trap CO2 on proteins for proteomic analysis. Our method demonstrates that carbamylation is widespread in biology. Protein-CO2 interactions therefore represents an exciting new and largely overlooked area of biochemistry that waits investigation.This project will investigate protein-CO2 and the impact on plant physiological characteristics including yield. The student will use a combination of chemical genetics and mass spectrometry to identify new CO2-binding proteins. The impact of CO2-binding on protein function will be investigated through molecular biology and biochemistry. The influence of CO2-binding on protein function will be investigated through a combination of plant physiology, genetics and biochemistry. The project will therefore offer a truly multi-disciplinary training opportunity.At the close of this project the student will have established carbamylation as a key mechanism for post translational modification mediating detection of CO2 in plants. This will expand our fundamental understanding of protein regulation. Further, on completion of the project, the student will have established the exciting and novel notion of a CO2-interacting proteome (the carbamylome).