Researchers from the Henan Institute of Science and Technology and Shandong
Academy of Agricultural Sciences reported the Molecular characteristics and
expression pattern of Rubisco activase gene GhRCAâ2 in upland cotton. Their
findings are published in Genes & Genomics.



Rubisco activase (RCA) is one of the important enzymes involved in the
carbon assimilation pathway, and it plays a vital role in activating
Rubisco, which catalyzes the initial step of carbon fixation in the Calvin
cycle during photosynthesis. Studies have shown that RCA could be a
potential target for genetic manipulation to improve photosynthetic
efficiency and crop yield.



The research team from China explored unraveling the biological function of
the GhRCAâ2 gene in upland cotton. They cloned the coding sequence of
GhRCAâ2 and investigated its sequence features, evolutionary relationship,
subcellular localization, promoter sequence, and expression pattern.



The results showed that GhRCAâ2 is present in chloroplast, confirming its
vital role in photosynthesis. Furthermore, the gene expression was found to
be impacted by various stress factors, including cold, heat, salt, drought,
low potassium, and low phosphorus levels. These findings could be used to
improve cotton photosynthetic efficiency and yield exposed to environmental
challenges.



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