b'Plant ScienceCharacterizing the Genes of Plant Growth and Development40Such findings could be important to controlling crop yieldsunder differentenvironmental conditions.Pivotal Protein to could be important to controlling crop yields under Photosynthesis Founddifferent environmental conditions. Photosynthesis is a process by which plants, algae,Some years ago, Grossman and colleagues, using and some bacteria use solar energy to convertcomputational methods, identified a suite of water and carbon dioxide into food, coupled withproteins called the GreenCut. These proteins are oxygen release. It is vital for nearly all life on Earth.present in all plants and green algae but not in Arthur Grossman, graduate student Tyler Wittkopp,nonphotosynthetic organisms. About half of these and team found that a previously uncharacterizedproteins had no known biological function, although protein plays a critical role in photosyntheticmany were localized to the cellular organelle called function, the accumulation of an essentialthe chloroplast, where photosynthesis takes place. photosynthetic electron transport complex, andSince then, a variety of GreenCut proteins have been survival of cells exposed to high light. Such findingsfound to function within chloroplasts in processes nuclear envelopenucleolusvacuole nucleusendoplasmicreticulumchloroplast Plants, algae, and some bacteria cytoplasm Golgi apparatus use the Suns energy to convert mitochondrion water and carbon dioxide cell wall into food and release oxygen. cell membrane Organelles called chloroplasts, shown in this plant-cell artwork, are where this activity takes place. Grossman and team identified a critical protein essential to this process. Illustration blueringmedia123RF.COM'