U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2013





- ARS News & Events
- AgResearch Magazine
- Image Gallery
- News
- Search News & Events
- Pesticide Drift May Endanger Pollinators
- ARS Seeks a Fire Ant Fix
- Scientific Discoveries 2024
- ARS Featured Photos
- Down on the Farm
- Facebook Live Events
- Food and Nutrition Research Briefs
- News Archive
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Social Media
- Under the Microscope
- AgResearch magazine
- ARS at Work
- ARS Memorial Lectures
- ARS Science Hall of Fame
- Citrus Disease (Huanglongbing)
- Contact Office of Communications
- Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- Mobile Apps
- Public Affairs Contacts
- Publications and Other Resources
- USDA Blog
- Videos

Archived Page
 This page has been archived and is being provided for reference purposes only. The page is no longer being updated, and therefore, links on the page may be invalid.
 **Read the magazine story to find out more.**Photo: Creosote bush.More heat-tolerant crops may be possible now that a plant protein called Rubisco activase, which plays a key role in photosynthesis, has been crystallized from the desert creosote bush.Photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management, DOI.For further readingExamining climate change effects on wheatSearching for ways to reduce agriculture's climate change footprintNitric oxide regulates plants as well as people A Long-Sought Goal: Crystallizing an Elusive Protein By Dennis O'Brien  March 22, 2013 A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist and his colleagues have opened the door to development of more heat-tolerant crops by crystallizing a plant protein that plays a key role in photosynthesis. Plants use an enzyme known as Rubisco in photosynthesis, the life-giving process that involves capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combining it with sunlight and nutrients in the soil to build up the shoots, leaves and stems that make up the plant, according to Michael E. Salvucci, a plant physiologist with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Maricopa, Ariz. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency. Temperature plays an important role in that process. When it gets too hot, a Rubisco helper protein called Rubisco activase shuts down, photosynthesis stops, and the plant no longer grows. Heat literally unravels the activase protein, and when it does, the result is a less-bountiful harvest. Different plants shut down photosynthesis at different temperatures. Scientists have known about Rubisco for decades. But Salvucci was part of an ARS team that discovered Rubisco activase in 1985 and proved that it activates Rubisco. Scientists around the world have been trying to crystallize Rubisco activase ever since. Crystallizing it would allow researchers to visualize it with X-ray diffraction, and visualizing it would help scientists better understand how it works. For proteins, the tougher and more rigid the structure, the easier it is to crystallize. But most plant activase proteins do not have rigid or even regular structures. Salvucci, who works at the ARS U.S. Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center in Maricopa, is now part of another team that has found a way to crystallize Rubisco activase. That discovery will allow researchers to possibly manipulate its sequence so that it doesn't unravel at higher temperatures.  Salvucci and Arizona State University cooperators Rebekka Wachter and Nathan Henderson wanted to find the most heat-tolerant activase protein possible. They knew that activase from the creosote bush would remain relatively stable at high temperatures because the plant is so heat tolerant. The bush is found in abundance in the Arizona desert and has no connection to the tar-like preservative in many wood products. They cloned the activase genes from the bush and generated parts of the protein that were stable enough to produce crystals. The findings, published in the *Journal of Biological Chemistry*, could help in the search for genes that cue plants to synthesize more heat-stable versions of the protein and thrive at higher temperatures. With climate change expected to alter landscapes and growing cycles, the work is considered extremely relevant. Read more about this research in the March 2013 issue of *Agricultural Research* magazine.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov