Photosynthetically active bicarbonate transporters from cyanobacteria & their rational redesign for application in engineered crops that use less water

Marine cyanobacteria are critical components of global photosynthetic primary productivity but CO2 acquisition processes are poorly understood. We will ascertain the membrane topology of two classes of cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporters, known as SbtA and BicA, and discover the post-translational controls that regulate the activation state of these proteins. This will contribute to a better understanding of the properties and regulation of these important transporters. This information is also critical to our goal of rationally redesigning BicA and SbtA variants that will be active in plants, thereby contributing to the applied objective of engineering crop plants with improved water-use efficiency.