Cross sections of C3 rice (left) and C4 sorghum (right) shoots. Both grain crops evolved from a common ancestor, but sorghum evolved to photosynthesize more efficiently. LA JOLLA (November 20, ...

C4 photosynthesis represents a striking example of convergent evolution, where multiple plant lineages have independently modified an ancestral C3 pathway to enhance carbon fixation efficiency. This ...

A molecular biologist at the Salk Institute shows me a greenhouse full of plants that use a photosynthesis called C4. Plants with that kind of operating system are better suited to thrive in dry and ...

Salk researchers have discovered how some plant species evolved a more efficient photosynthesis approach; findings could help make staple crops including rice and wheat more resilient to climate ...

The RuBisCO enzyme, the most abundant protein on the planet, is an essential component of photosynthesis, but it isn’t terribly efficient, especially when it gets hot. Over time, some plants evolved a ...

Miscanthus and sorghum -- both C4 plant species -- occupy a distinct niche of the leaf economics spectrum (LES), with greater photosynthetic rates and nitrogen use efficiency than more common C3 ...

A team from the University of Illinois has quantified the plant cell properties in two C4 species, including cell shape, chloroplast size, and distribution of cell-to-cell connections called ...

Scientists discovered that certain plants can survive stressful, dry conditions by controlling water loss through their leaves without relying on their usual mechanism -- tiny pores known as 'stomata' ...

Under the right conditions, researchers say, some crop yields could increase by 50 percent or more. Gary J Weathers/Getty Images This past summer, a widespread drought across the United States lowered ...