Our solution is to create photosynthesis-enhanced Poplar trees with genetically engineered Rubisco Activase (RCA) that drives greater photosynthesis to remove an additional 200-400 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce global warming.

 

To address these problems, two types of poplar trees will be generated:

1. The first type will overexpress wild-type RCA. This will result in higher levels of protein being made so that each tree will be able to carry out more photosynthesis and fix more carbon.

2. The second type will overexpress modified RCA which is more heat tolerant. This thermostable form will allow trees to fix carbon even in hot geographies due to climate change.

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Rubisco Activase (RCA) is critical to increasing the photosynthetic efficiency of trees. In a plant leaf cell, the RCA gene is found in the nuclear genome, RCA mRNA is transcribed in the nucleus, and RCA protein acts in the chloroplast organelle to reactivate Rubisco to fix carbon. A tree with more functional RCA protein (at both low or high temperatures), will have more photosynthesis and less photorespiration, allowing it to remove more CO2 from the atmosphere.