Edward Smith
@tednsmith.bsky.social
Biochemist using flux analysis to investigate the amazing metabolism of plants 🌱🌿🌵👨🔬
Reposted by Edward Smith
Outstanding work by @anyalb.bsky.social in my lab - she targeted enzymes to synthetic biomolecular condensates in plants and showed increases in metabolic pathway activity, likely due to protection of the introduced enzymes from proteolysis
#PlantScience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#PlantScience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
April 25, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Outstanding work by @anyalb.bsky.social in my lab - she targeted enzymes to synthetic biomolecular condensates in plants and showed increases in metabolic pathway activity, likely due to protection of the introduced enzymes from proteolysis
#PlantScience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#PlantScience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
3/ Compare this to recent potato studies: doi.org/10.1111/gcb...., doi.org/10.1111/pbi.... Matching the right pathway to the right crop species in the right growing conditions will be key to unlocking this tech’s huge potential!
Shortcutting Photorespiration Protects Potato Photosynthesis and Tuber Yield Against Heatwave Stress
Over two growing seasons, a chloroplast localized synthetic glycolate metabolic pathway expressed in potato, enhanced tuber biomass. We confirmed that this yield benefit did not come at the cost of t...
doi.org
April 16, 2025 at 9:38 AM
3/ Compare this to recent potato studies: doi.org/10.1111/gcb...., doi.org/10.1111/pbi.... Matching the right pathway to the right crop species in the right growing conditions will be key to unlocking this tech’s huge potential!
2/ The CO2 compensation point (CO2 conc. where net CO2 release is zero) usually drops with this bypass, but here it rose. Maybe due to species-specific differences in CO2 diffusion paths? More modelling needed to figure this out!
April 16, 2025 at 9:38 AM
2/ The CO2 compensation point (CO2 conc. where net CO2 release is zero) usually drops with this bypass, but here it rose. Maybe due to species-specific differences in CO2 diffusion paths? More modelling needed to figure this out!
1/ Blocking glycolate export from chloroplasts has previously been shown to be a good strategy - but here it resulted in worse performance in the field. With this type of bypass some native photorespiration can be beneficial so fine-tuning this could be a next step.
April 16, 2025 at 9:38 AM
1/ Blocking glycolate export from chloroplasts has previously been shown to be a good strategy - but here it resulted in worse performance in the field. With this type of bypass some native photorespiration can be beneficial so fine-tuning this could be a next step.
A big month for engineering photorespiration! More evidence that bypassing photorespiration in rice by converting glycolate to CO2 in chloroplasts can boost yields. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... More work needed to ensure gains reach the grains 🍚 but another promising step forward! 🧵
A synthetic glycolate metabolism bypass in rice chloroplasts increases photosynthesis and yield
Photorespiration consumes photosynthetically fixed carbon and reduces yields by 20%–50% in C3 crops. In an attempt to increase photosynthetic efficien…
www.sciencedirect.com
April 16, 2025 at 9:38 AM
A big month for engineering photorespiration! More evidence that bypassing photorespiration in rice by converting glycolate to CO2 in chloroplasts can boost yields. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... More work needed to ensure gains reach the grains 🍚 but another promising step forward! 🧵
Reposted by Edward Smith
Our team recently published important findings in Science Advances on improving crop efficiency!
Read the press release to learn more. 🌻
#PlantScience #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #EUResearch
gain4crops.eu/beyond-photo...
Read the press release to learn more. 🌻
#PlantScience #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #EUResearch
gain4crops.eu/beyond-photo...
Beyond photorespiration: A systematic approach to unlocking enhanced plant productivity
New research from GAIN4CROPS partners provides critical insights into overcoming one of agriculture’s most costly inefficiencies.
gain4crops.eu
April 9, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Our team recently published important findings in Science Advances on improving crop efficiency!
Read the press release to learn more. 🌻
#PlantScience #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #EUResearch
gain4crops.eu/beyond-photo...
Read the press release to learn more. 🌻
#PlantScience #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #EUResearch
gain4crops.eu/beyond-photo...
Reposted by Edward Smith
Sam Lovat, Elad Noor, Ron Milo run the numbers on #VerticalFarming to get ⚡️ cost ≈$10/kg dry plant matter.
Which explains why it's viable only for high-value 🥬 ('fru-fru baby lettuce')
Vertical farming limitations & potential demonstrated by back-of-the-envelope calculations
doi.org/10.1093/plph...
Which explains why it's viable only for high-value 🥬 ('fru-fru baby lettuce')
Vertical farming limitations & potential demonstrated by back-of-the-envelope calculations
doi.org/10.1093/plph...
April 5, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Sam Lovat, Elad Noor, Ron Milo run the numbers on #VerticalFarming to get ⚡️ cost ≈$10/kg dry plant matter.
Which explains why it's viable only for high-value 🥬 ('fru-fru baby lettuce')
Vertical farming limitations & potential demonstrated by back-of-the-envelope calculations
doi.org/10.1093/plph...
Which explains why it's viable only for high-value 🥬 ('fru-fru baby lettuce')
Vertical farming limitations & potential demonstrated by back-of-the-envelope calculations
doi.org/10.1093/plph...
Reposted by Edward Smith
If you want to find out why metabolism may look different to what you were taught, and why this matters, dip into to our review 'Non-canonical plant metabolism' www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natureplants.bsky.social
#PlantScience
@natureplants.bsky.social
#PlantScience
April 4, 2025 at 6:13 PM
If you want to find out why metabolism may look different to what you were taught, and why this matters, dip into to our review 'Non-canonical plant metabolism' www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natureplants.bsky.social
#PlantScience
@natureplants.bsky.social
#PlantScience
3. Interestingly the net photosynthetic rate still seems to be increased under high CO2 (when you wouldn't expect much photorespiration to be occurring anyway) 🤔 Can anyone help explain this? @florianabusch.bsky.social
April 4, 2025 at 1:20 PM
3. Interestingly the net photosynthetic rate still seems to be increased under high CO2 (when you wouldn't expect much photorespiration to be occurring anyway) 🤔 Can anyone help explain this? @florianabusch.bsky.social
2. The GOC pathway had the biggest improvement under high-light conditions. Reassuringly this matches our recent modelling work which also predicted other alternative pathways - like those that fix additional CO2 - could perform even better than the pathway described in this paper.
April 4, 2025 at 1:20 PM
2. The GOC pathway had the biggest improvement under high-light conditions. Reassuringly this matches our recent modelling work which also predicted other alternative pathways - like those that fix additional CO2 - could perform even better than the pathway described in this paper.
1. The pathway increased yields even under adverse conditions such as heavy rain, low light and waterlogging. This is super important to mitigate the effects climate change can have on weather patterns.
April 4, 2025 at 1:20 PM
1. The pathway increased yields even under adverse conditions such as heavy rain, low light and waterlogging. This is super important to mitigate the effects climate change can have on weather patterns.
Another example just published of an alternative pathway to photorespiration boosting crop yields by 21%–69%! This time a complete glycolate oxidation pathway (called GOC) in potatoes. Some interesting takeaways 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Synthetic photorespiratory bypass more stably increases potato yield per plant by improving photosynthesis
The bioengineering of photorespiration has emerged as a key target for improving photosynthesis and crop yield. In our previous study, two photorespiratory bypasses, GOC and GCGT, were successfully e...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 4, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Another example just published of an alternative pathway to photorespiration boosting crop yields by 21%–69%! This time a complete glycolate oxidation pathway (called GOC) in potatoes. Some interesting takeaways 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Really impressive work from Ari and the team - going from an idea all the way to a functional pathway using the latest synbio tools! The CORE cycle is another carbon fixing route that could be used as an alternative to photorespiration in plants. Interested to see where this goes next! 🌱📈
Excited to share a main project from my PhD, out now in
@naturecomms.bsky.social! 📝
We've designed and brought to life the “CORE cycle” – a new-to-nature pathway that provides a novel route for biological CO2 capture 🦠🌱
nature.com/articles/s41...
Take a look! Thread below... 🧵
@naturecomms.bsky.social! 📝
We've designed and brought to life the “CORE cycle” – a new-to-nature pathway that provides a novel route for biological CO2 capture 🦠🌱
nature.com/articles/s41...
Take a look! Thread below... 🧵
April 4, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Really impressive work from Ari and the team - going from an idea all the way to a functional pathway using the latest synbio tools! The CORE cycle is another carbon fixing route that could be used as an alternative to photorespiration in plants. Interested to see where this goes next! 🌱📈
Follow @gain4crops.eu for updates as we test these predictions in plants 🌻
Next steps: turning 🖥️ models into real-world yield boosts 📈
Thanks to @matthiasheinemann.bsky.social @apmweber.bsky.social @Marvin van Aalst @Oliver Ebenhöh and everyone @gain4crops.eu
Next steps: turning 🖥️ models into real-world yield boosts 📈
Thanks to @matthiasheinemann.bsky.social @apmweber.bsky.social @Marvin van Aalst @Oliver Ebenhöh and everyone @gain4crops.eu
April 2, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Follow @gain4crops.eu for updates as we test these predictions in plants 🌻
Next steps: turning 🖥️ models into real-world yield boosts 📈
Thanks to @matthiasheinemann.bsky.social @apmweber.bsky.social @Marvin van Aalst @Oliver Ebenhöh and everyone @gain4crops.eu
Next steps: turning 🖥️ models into real-world yield boosts 📈
Thanks to @matthiasheinemann.bsky.social @apmweber.bsky.social @Marvin van Aalst @Oliver Ebenhöh and everyone @gain4crops.eu
Excitingly we found that carbon fixing pathways should perform even better! They boost the carbon use efficiency of the calvin cycle and net carbon fixation 🟰 increased yields!
April 2, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Excitingly we found that carbon fixing pathways should perform even better! They boost the carbon use efficiency of the calvin cycle and net carbon fixation 🟰 increased yields!
Field trials (like @ripeproject.bsky.social's awesome work) show pathways that relocate CO2 release to chloroplasts, from mitochondria can perform well 🚜 Our models link this to CO2 diffusion & Rubisco efficiency gains.
April 2, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Field trials (like @ripeproject.bsky.social's awesome work) show pathways that relocate CO2 release to chloroplasts, from mitochondria can perform well 🚜 Our models link this to CO2 diffusion & Rubisco efficiency gains.
Energy costs, CO2 diffusion & native pathway interactions make it hard to pick the best pathway designs intuitively 🤔We used metabolic models to find top performers under various conditions.
April 2, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Energy costs, CO2 diffusion & native pathway interactions make it hard to pick the best pathway designs intuitively 🤔We used metabolic models to find top performers under various conditions.
Alternative pathways can do the same job - recycle 2PG back into the metabolic network. Some release CO2 in the process but others can even fix extra CO2!
April 2, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Alternative pathways can do the same job - recycle 2PG back into the metabolic network. Some release CO2 in the process but others can even fix extra CO2!
It’s often taught photorespiration is vital & altering it could harm plants ☠️ But it’s not the pathway itself that matters—it’s the function: clearing 2PG from Rubisco’s O2 reaction 🧹
April 2, 2025 at 12:41 PM
It’s often taught photorespiration is vital & altering it could harm plants ☠️ But it’s not the pathway itself that matters—it’s the function: clearing 2PG from Rubisco’s O2 reaction 🧹
As well as CO2 Rubisco reacts with O2: plants evolved photorespiration to deal with the consequences. It works, but synthetic biology can do better! 🔄 We used metabolic modeling to compare alternative pathways to boost crop yields 🌱 🧵 #ScienceAdvancesResearch
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Alternatives to photorespiration: A system-level analysis reveals mechanisms of enhanced plant productivity
Computational modeling reveals how engineering plants with alternative pathways to photorespiration could boost crop yields.
www.science.org
April 2, 2025 at 12:41 PM
As well as CO2 Rubisco reacts with O2: plants evolved photorespiration to deal with the consequences. It works, but synthetic biology can do better! 🔄 We used metabolic modeling to compare alternative pathways to boost crop yields 🌱 🧵 #ScienceAdvancesResearch
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...