Israeli Scientists Discover Possibilities of Plant-Sustained Electricity

ISAAA News - June 17, 2020

Figure: Rewiring photosynthesis: a photosystem I-hydrogenase chimera that makes H₂   in vivo

Scientists from the Tel Aviv University used microscopic algae to produce hydrogen from plants which, if further researched, may lead to using plants to produce electricity.

The team used an enzyme which they put in algae samples. They made an in vivo fusion of photosystem I (PSI) and algal hydrogenase by inserting the HydA sequence into the PSaC subunit. This created a new photosystem and was observed to produce higher rates of hydrogen. Further investigation exhibited that the photosynthetic flow showed evidence of "driving novel redox chemistries using electrons from water splitting and the photosynthetic electron transport chain." These findings support the possibility of the plants' potential to become a source of energy.

The study was published in Energy and Environmental Science.