New clues could help scientists harness the power of photosynthesis

This illustration shows a model of the newly-identified clorophyll f synthase enzyme that converts chlorophyll a into chlorophyll f. The model is based on the known structure of the Photosystem II reaction center - a core unit of the machinery of photosynthesis to which the enzyme is related. The bright green molecules near the bottom of the structure represent chlorophyll a molecules that would be modified in light to produce chlorophyll f. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Identification of a gene needed to expand light harvesting in photosynthesis into the far-red-light spectrum provides clues to the development of oxygen-producing photosynthesis, an evolutionary advance that changed the history of life on Earth. "Knowledge of how photosynthesis evolved could empower scientists to design better ways to use light energy for the benefit of mankind," said Donald A. Bryant, the Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University and the leader of the research team that made the discovery. This discovery, which could enable scientists to engineer crop plants 2016. "Photosynthesis usually ranks about third after the origin of life and the invention of DNA in lists of the greatest inventions of evolution," said Bryant.