Scientists from the University of Western Australia discovered how plants control the amount of carbon from photosynthesis that they store to build biomass using a metabolic channel. This is a relatively rare plant ability that was found to break the normal rules of biochemistry and has the potential to help mitigate climate change.
Scientists have dubbed the previously unknown process as “secret decisions” that plants make when releasing carbon into the atmosphere. While investigating the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, researchers found that plants control how much carbon from photosynthesis they keep to build biomass using a metabolic channel during respiration.