Glycolate oxidation inside the chloroplast: A novel method for the suppression of photorespiration in plants

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Christoph Peterhänsel
• Subject Area: Plant Biochemistry and Biophysics
• Term: from 2003 to 2007
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5399568

Plants loose a significant part of the already fixed CO2 in the process of photorespiration. This effect is exacerbated further under hot and arid climates. Also, growth and yield of crops is clearly enhanced by fertilisation with CO2 under otherwise optimal conditions. We propose a novel approach for the suppression of photorespiration. A pathway derived from E. coli will be transferred into the chloroplast capable of converting glycolate into glycerate under release of CO2. Thus, the products of photorespiration will directly lead to enhanced CO2 concentrations in the chloroplast and therefore suppress photorespiration. Important novelties of this approach are the identification and application of glycolate-oxidising enzymes with organic co-factors avoiding the production of oxygen radicals and the transfer of the complete coding sequences as one cistron into the chloroplast genome.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants