Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas contributing to changing climatic conditions, which is a grand challenge affecting the security of food, energy, and environment. Photosynthesis plays the central role in plant-based CO2 reduction. Plants performing CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism) photosynthesis have a much higher water use efficiency than those performing C3 or C4 photosynthesis. Therefore, there is a great potential for engineering CAM in C3 or C4 crops to enhance food/biomass production and carbon sequestration on arid, semiarid, abandoned, or marginal lands. Recent progresses in CAM plant genomics and evolution research, along with new advances in plant biotechnology, have provided a solid foundation for bioengineering to convert C3/C4 plants into CAM plants. Here, we first discuss the potential strategies for CAM engineering based on our current understanding of CAM evolution. ThenwedescribethetechnicalapproachesforengineeringCAMinC3 andC4 plants,withafocus onan iterative four-step pipeline: (1) designinggene modules, (2) buildingthe gene modules and transforming them into target plants, (3) testing the engineered plants through an integration of molecular biology, biochemistry, metabolism, and physiological approaches, and (4) learning to inform the next round of CAM engineering. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future opportunities for fully realizing the potential of CAM engineering.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | a041674 |
| Journal | Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2024 |
Funding
The writing of this manuscript was supported by the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Biological and Environ mental Research (BER) program. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract Number DE-AC05-00OR22725. This article has been made freely available online by generous financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We particularly want to acknowledge the support and encouragement of Rodger Voorhies, president, Global Growth and Opportunity Fund.