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It is currently unknown how plants sense the level
of CO2 in the atmosphere. Previously, no CO2
sensors have been identified in plants. Knowledge
of how atmospheric CO2 is perceived could be used to
manipulate plant CO2 responses so that the carbon and
water use efficiency during plant growth could be optimized. The
water use efficiency defines how well a plant can balance
the loss of water through stomata with the net CO2
uptake for photosynthesis, and hence biomass accumulation.
UCSD investigators have found a new method to manipulate
exchange of water and CO2 through guard-cell stomata
by controlling newly discovered CO2 sensor genes. One
can thereby modify net CO2 uptake and water use efficiency
in plants by modulating expression of these genes in
guard cells. These findings suggest a potentially
vital role for the identifiedgenes in the sensing/signaling
of CO2 in plants.
These investigators have also identified a guard cell-specific
promoter that drives higher levels of expression than
any other promoter in guard cells. Plant guard
cells control CO2 uptake and water loss and are critically
important for drought tolerance. This promoter
has strength and specificity allowing effective transgene
expression or silencing. Compared with other
well-known guard cell promoters, this super-strong
guard cell promoter is around 20 times stronger. Compared
with the commonly used universal strong cauliflower
mosaic virus 35S promoter, this super-strong guard
cell promoter drives much higher expression of reporter
genes specifically in guard cells with a minimum background
expression in the surrounding cells.
Applications:Manipulating how plants
sense CO2 will aid in the production of crops with
altered and improved CO2/gas exchange and water use
efficiency and may also improve plant growth of different
plant species at a higher atmospheric CO2 concentration. This
could have commercial utility by creating plants that
are useful in
- Improved water use efficiency of crops
- Creating drought resistant crops
- Optimizing plant growth in higher CO2 conditions
- Biomass accumulation / Biofuel production
Theplants with mutated CO2 sensor genesshow a stomatal
response as measured by real-time gas exchange analysis
to changes in CO2 concentration. The proteins
encoding the CO2 sensing genes can bind CO2.
Status: patent pending, worldwide rights available
Keywords: carbon dioxide, CO2 sensors, plants, biofuels, alternative energy, global warming
Case No: SD2007-209
Inquiries To: invent@ucsd.edu |
