Scientists in the UK and US have been awarded funding totalling GBP6.1m to improve the process of photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis allows biological systems to convert sunlight into food and is the source of all the fossil fuels we burn today.
Four transatlantic research teams will explore ways to overcome limitations in photosynthesis that could then lead to ways of significantly increasing the yield of important crops for food production or sustainable bioenergy.
This research could possibly even lead to the blueprint to make a fully artificial leaf capable of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The funding has been awarded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF).
Despite the fact that photosynthesis is the basis of energy capture from the sun in plants, algae and other organisms, it has some fundamental limitations.
Each team includes scientists from a range of disciplines and from both the UK and US.
This means the projects can draw on the best expertise and infrastructure from each nation.
This approach will build links between the scientific communities and lay the foundations for future collaborations.
Three of the research projects will focus on improving a reaction driven by an enzyme called rubisco, which is a widely recognised bottleneck in the photosynthesis pathway.
By attempting to transfer parts from algae and bacteria into plants, the researchers hope to make the environment in the plants' cells around Rubisco richer in carbon dioxide, which will allow photosynthesis to produce sugars more efficiently.
The fourth project aims to harness the excess light energy that reaches photosynthetic organisms but cannot be used due to bottlenecks in natural photosynthesis.
This project aims to transfer high-energy electrons from a cyanobacterial cell where there is excess that would otherwise be turned to heat to an adjacent cell that will be engineered to produce food or fuel products.
The four research projects have been funded by BBSRC and NSF following a multidisciplinary workshop held by the funders in California in September 2010.
The workshop, called the Ideas Lab, enabled scientists from different disciplines and institutions in the UK and US to explore ideas and potential projects before submitting them to BBSRC and NSF.
