How soil bacteria speed up carbon fixation (IMAGE)
Caption
A reaction substrate (purple molecule at center) nestles in a pocket of an enzyme called ECR (orange and teal), which catalyzes a reaction that turns carbon dioxide (pink spheres) into biomolecules needed by soil bacteria. A new study reveals how ECR performs this reaction 20 times faster than the equivalent enzyme in photosynthesis. Scientists hope to optimize this family of enzymes to make products out of CO2.
Credit
Greg Stewart, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
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