Can efficient algal variants of the photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, be folded and assembled in functional forms in higher-plant plastids?

我们已经证明，通过改造质体基因组，用细菌同源物取代植物的二氧化碳固定酶Rubisco，可以预测并深刻地改变植物的光合表型。因此，有可能用更有效的藻类Rubiscos取代植物酶，这将使植物在更少的光、更少的水或更少的肥料的情况下生长。在实现这种理想的植物表型变化之前，需要解决Rubisco亚基的修饰、折叠和组装等一些复杂问题。这项建议解决了这些问题。

We have shown that it is possible to alter the photosynthetic phenotype of a plant predictably and profoundly by engineering the plastid genome to replace the plant's CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a bacterial homolog. Thus it may be possible to replace the plant enzyme with more efficient algal Rubiscos that would allow plants to grow with less light, less water or less fertiliser. Before such desirable changes to the plant phenotype can be realised, some complex issues of modification, folding and assembly of Rubisco subunits need to be resolved. This proposal addresses them.