November 20, 2024

Superior photosynthesis abilities of some plants could hold key to climate-resilient crops

Salk scientists discover how some plant species evolved a more efficient photosynthesis approach; findings could help make crops like rice and wheat more resilient to climate change

LA JOLLA -- More than 3 billion years ago, on an Earth entirely covered with water, photosynthesis first evolved in little ancient bacteria. In the following many millions of years, those bacteria evolved into plants, optimizing themselves along the way for various environmental changes. This evolution was punctuated around 30 million years ago with the emergence of a newer, better way to photosynthesize. While plants like rice continued using an old form of photosynthesis known as C3, others like corn and sorghum developed a newer and more efficient version called C4.

There are now more than 8,000 different C4 plant species, which grow particularly well in hot, dry climates and are some of the most productive crop species in the world. However, the vast majority of plants still run on C3 photosynthesis. So how did C4 plants come to be, and could C3 plants ever get a similar update?

Now, for the first time ever, Salk scientists and collaborators at the University of Cambridge discovered a key step C4 plants like sorghum needed to take to evolve to become so efficient at photosynthesizing -- and how we could use this information to make crops like rice, wheat, and soybeans more productive and resilient against our warming climate.

The findings were published in Nature on November 20, 2024.

...