Princeton studies show how algae use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis

In New Jersey, two new studies of green algae have revealed new insights into how these organisms siphon carbon dioxide from the air for use in photosynthesis, a key factor in their ability to grow so quickly. Understanding this process may someday help researchers improve the growth rate of crops such as wheat and rice.

In the studies published this week in the journal Cell, the Princeton-led team reported the first detailed inventory of the cellular machinery — located in an organelle known as the pyrenoid — that algae use to collect and concentrate carbon dioxide. The researchers also found that the pyrenoid, long thought to be a solid structure, actually behaves like a liquid droplet that can dissolve into the surrounding cellular medium when the algal cells divide.