Research

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Research to enhance your Life
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The Keyto Green EnergyUnlocking the Power of
Plants and Algae
featuring
David Kramer, PhD Professor and Fellow Institute
of Biological Chemistry College of Agricultural,
Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
October 20 Seattle
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The goal of my research is to understand how
biological energy transduction machinery enables,
sustains and limits life D. Kramer 1995
Stromatolite (Australia) Earths oldest (living)
fossil
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O2 Biomass
H2O CO2
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The Bad News Atmospheric Carbon
Heat energy storage
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The Good News Atmospheric Carbon
Heat energy storage
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Can photosynthesis fix global climate change?
http//www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080423_
methane.html
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5-10 of terrestrial photosynthesis in northern
hemisphere
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Hambourger, Moore, Gust, Moore, Kramer Moore
(2009) Chem Soc Rev
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What does Napoleons attack on Russia (1812-1813)
have to do with bioenergy?

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Minard's Diagram of Napoleon's March on Moscow
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Crop photosynthesis under bioenergy conditions.
0.3
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Over 80 of the energy in our ecosystem is lost
in the first fraction of a second of
photosynthesis
0.3
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Major kinetic restrictions
Temperature, water, N, micronutrients
Gust et al., MRB 2008
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Over 80 of the energy in our ecosystem is
purposely dumped by organisms in the first
fraction of a second of photosynthesis
Control Signals
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The need to steer reactive intermediates
G
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The need to steer reactive intermediates
G
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The need to steer reactive intermediates
heat
G
NPQ b6f, etc.
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Balance of Power
The early bioenergetics was not evolved to handle
such the high energy available to modern
photosynthesis. needs a light touch on the
accelerator if possible!
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Nature has
no brakes
and a winding road.
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There is large variation between species in
energy efficiency, even under similar growing
conditions.
Can be as high as a few percent!
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Photosynthetic StrategiesEfficiency vs.
Photodamage

• Safety FirstPrefer protection over
  efficiencyshut down photosynthesis at the first
  sign of danger.
• AggressiveTo hell with the damagegive me more
  power!

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Different Rules, Different Winners
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Some plants are much more efficient than others
0.2 efficiency
1-3 efficiency
Arundo donax grown at our field station in
Prosser WA.
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This applies to microbes as well Some species
of algae and cyanobacteria are extremely
productive (and produce biofuels!), more than
20-times that of crop plants, but others are far
less efficient than plants.
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Algal biofuels
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Plant Biofuels
Switchgrass
Arundo donax
Sugar cane
Cassava
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Biofuels resources needed to sustain our energy
needs Issues and Assumptions
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The Viability of Bioenergy will Depend on the
Efficiency of Photosynthesis
Cost, Area, Resources, Environmental Impact
Efficiency of Photosynthesis
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Food production must rise by 70 in the next
40 years
United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organization, Oct. 2009
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Implications

• Plants and algae did not evolve to make us
  biofuels. They evolved to survive.
• There are different photosynthetic "strategies"
  to deal with environmental challenges.
• Highest photosynthetic efficiency is not always
  the best strategy!
• Often, control is more important than speed.
• Room for improvement
• Change the plant
• Change the way we grow plants

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• Goals
• Determine the photosynthetic strategies of plants
  by identifying and probing every limiting factor
  and control point as they occur under growth
  conditions.
• 2) Apply this knowledge to improvement of
  productivity of both food and fuel.

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What makes modern engines more efficient?
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Reverse engineering Photosynthesis
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We must understand how the biophysical processes
of photosynthesis work in living organisms
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NADPH
H
H
-
-


H2O
H
O2
ATP
ADP Pi
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How can we do this?

• There is NO HOPE of isolating the key
  intermediates of photosynthesis!
• We must probe in the living plant
• as they occur under natural conditions.

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Tricorder
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Dodeca-corderIDEA - Integrated Diode
EmitterArray Spectrophotometers
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MAPPP Medium Array for PlantPhotosynthetic
Phenotyping
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Imaging of Complex Photosynthetic Processes
Photosynthetic yield images
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The Model T Ford Engine
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The ATP synthase is a major co-regulator of the
light and dark reactions of photosynthesis
Senses metabolic status
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The ATP synthase acts like the break
pedal(tapper or stomper) of photosynthesis
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Wild watermelon
High-light grown
400 s-1
Fatsia japonica
High-light grown
63 s-1
Fatsia japonica
20 s-1
Low-light grown
Poinsettia
6.2 s-1
Very low-light grown
Kanazawa Cruz and Kramer, 2009
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Selecting for Higher Efficiency Biofuels Algae
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Can we use this knowledge to engineer more
efficient plants or algae?

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Adjusting Regulatory Strategy by Modifying the
Chloroplast ATP Synthase
Regulatory epsilon subunit
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but if we downstream processes in parallel.
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Proof of Concept

• We can use our tools coupled with genetics and
  engineering to select or engineer more efficient
  plants and algae.
• Engineering can work, but simplistic engineering
  may do more harm than good.
• There are also potential applications in crops,
  precision agriculture etc.

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Where do we go from here?

• Control of photosynthesis is complex and involves
  many levels of regulation.
• Need to custom to fit the environment, etc.
• We need to dramatically deepen and broaden the
  use of these technologies.

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Cell biology
Metabolomics
Genetics
Genomics
Transciptomics
Genetic engineering
Physiology
Cropping
Precision Ag
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Large-Scale Photosynthesis Phenotyping
Select large numbers of plants under wide ranges
of conditions
WSU, ANU, Australia
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Algae Photosynthetic Phenomics Array
Algal strain
Culture Conditions
WSU (Kramer (IBC) and Shulin Chen (BSE)),
Danforth Center)
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Dissemination of Technology
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Field PhenomicsUsing the Real World as Our
Laboratory

• Portable, robust and inexpensive instruments
• Distributed to researchers, growers, students.
• Data analyzed via internet

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Lab Mott To invent, you need a good
imaginationand a pile of Junk (Edison)
Kramer Lab Scientists Thomas Avenson Amelia
Barhanovich Jeffrey Cruz Heather Enlow
Atsuko Kanazawa Valarie Collin Olavi
Kiirats Kaori Kohzuma-Matsuo Aaron
Livingston Colette Sacksteder
Kenji Takizawa Engineers Jeffrey Cruz Magnus
Wood Dusin DeMars Joel Carpenter Ula
Szafruga and 35 more
WSU Ben Lucker (Biosystems Engineering) Shulin
Chen (Biosystems Engineering) Mark Lange
(IBC) Amit Dhingra (Horticulture) Bill Pan
(Crops and Soils) Gerald Edwards (SBS)
International Elias Peloewetse (Botswana) Krishna
Niyogi (Berkeley) Xiaoping Li (Berkeley) Thomas
Moore (ASU) Anne Moore (ASU) Michael Hambourger
(ASU) Devens Gust (ASU) Kinya Akashi (NAIST,
Japan) Akiho Yokota (NAIST, Japan) Thomas
Sharkey (MSU, USA) Ru Zhang (MSU, USA) Mark
Schoettler (Golm, Germany Ralph Bock, (Golm,
Germany) Neil Baker (Essex, U.K.) Jeremy
Harbinson (Waganegan U., The Netherlands)

Funding U.S. D.O.E. NSF, ACS, Herman Frasch
Foundation, USDA, CNRS, Motorola
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