Atomic-level structural and functional model of a bacterial photosynthetic membrane vesicle

herry submitted, created time 1 year 3 months (www.pnas.org)

The photosynthetic unit (PSU) of purple photosynthetic bacteria consists of a network of bacteriochlorophyll–protein complexes that absorb solar energy for eventual conversion to ATP. Because of its remarkable simplicity, the PSU can serve as a prototype for studies of cellular organelles.

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Improvement of water use efficiency in rice by expression of HARDY, an Arabidopsis drought and salt tolerance gene

james submitted, created time 1 year 3 months (www.pnas.org)

Freshwater is a limited and dwindling global resource; therefore, efficient water use is required for food crops that have high water demands, such as rice, or for the production of sustainable energy biomass. We show here that expression of the Arabidopsis HARDY (HRD) gene in rice improves water use efficiency, the ratio of biomass produced to the water used, by enhancing photosynthetic assimilation and reducing transpiration.

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