Common grass could help boost food security

Panic grasses contain an enzyme that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more efficiently than other plants in the extreme climate conditions predicted in coming decades. Australian researchers have discovered that the common Panic grasses could hold the secret to increasing the yields of cereal crops and help feed the world with increasing temperature extremes and a population of nearly 10 billion people by 2050. The findings show the potential to improve crop yields for staple foods such as wheat and rice by transplanting enzymes from Panic grasses. "Panic grasses contain an enzyme that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more efficiently than other plants in the extreme climate conditions predicted in coming decades," said lead researcher Dr Robert Sharwood from ANU. "We are aiming to enhance the growth and yield of crops such as wheat and rice by transplanting this more efficient enzyme into them," he said. The discovery is a significant development in the quest to use the natural genetic diversity of grasses to increase crop yields in response to concerns that improvements in global crop productivity have stalled. The research was conducted by members of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, the ANU Research School of Biology and Western Sydney University's Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment.