Turbocharging photosynthesis in corn hikes yield.

Scientists from the Boyce Thompson Institute BTI and Cornell University have boosted a carbon-craving enzyme called RuBisCO to turbocharge photosynthesis in corn. The discovery promises to be a key step in improving agricultural efficiency and yield. Increased RuBisCO assists corn's biological machinery used during photosynthesis to incorporate atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. 

Every metabolic process like photosynthesis has the equivalent of traffic lights or speed bumps, RuBisCO is often the limiting factor in photosynthesis. With increased RuBisCO, though, this well-known speed bump is lowered, leading to improved photosynthetic efficiency."RuBisCO does have a formal, scientific name. It's Ribulose-1,5-bis-phosphate carboxylase an enzyme that helps convert carbon dioxide into sugar. 

But for the world of commercial agriculture and corn's C4 photosynthesis system, RuBisCO works slowly. BTI researchers found a way to over-express a key chaperone enzyme called RuBisCO Assembly Factor 1, or RAF1, to help make more RuBisCO.