Engineering α-carboxysomes into plant chloroplasts to support autotrophic photosynthesis

Taiyu Chen, Marta Hojka, Philip Davey, Yaqi Sun, Gregory F. Dykes, Fei Zhou, Tracy Lawson, Peter J. Nixon, Yongjun Lin () and Lu-Ning Liu ()
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Taiyu Chen: University of Liverpool
Marta Hojka: South Kensington Campus
Philip Davey: University of Essex
Yaqi Sun: University of Liverpool
Gregory F. Dykes: University of Liverpool
Fei Zhou: Huazhong Agricultural University
Tracy Lawson: University of Essex
Peter J. Nixon: South Kensington Campus
Yongjun Lin: Huazhong Agricultural University
Lu-Ning Liu: University of Liverpool

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The growth in world population, climate change, and resource scarcity necessitate a sustainable increase in crop productivity. Photosynthesis in major crops is limited by the inefficiency of the key CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco, owing to its low carboxylation rate and poor ability to discriminate between CO2 and O2. In cyanobacteria and proteobacteria, carboxysomes function as the central CO2-fixing organelles that elevate CO2 levels around encapsulated Rubisco to enhance carboxylation. There is growing interest in engineering carboxysomes into crop chloroplasts as a potential route for improving photosynthesis and crop yields. Here, we generate morphologically correct carboxysomes in tobacco chloroplasts by transforming nine carboxysome genetic components derived from a proteobacterium. The chloroplast-expressed carboxysomes display a structural and functional integrity comparable to native carboxysomes and support autotrophic growth and photosynthesis of the transplastomic plants at elevated CO2. Our study provides proof-of-concept for a route to engineering fully functional CO2-fixing modules and entire CO2-concentrating mechanisms into chloroplasts to improve crop photosynthesis and productivity.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37490-0

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