“Our research on how these proteins help plants respond to stress caused by elevated toxic metals in soil has the potential to bring significant benefits to society,” said researcher Macon Abernathy. “These proteins use copper and oxygen to form molecules that the plant can use to combat toxic metals, like cadmium, allowing the plant to survive and thrive in soils that would otherwise result in poor growth.” He is working alongside Ritimukta Sarangi, Jocelyn Richardson, Lisa Mydy, and Roland Kersten on this study. The team is hopeful that their project could offer economic benefits to farmers while also addressing food security concerns. Abernathy and colleagues with the University of Michigan and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource used the BioXAS-Main beamline at the CLS to better understand the copper binding process and how that copper is used to create the molecules that will defend the plant against toxic metals. Their findings could help to develop new strategies for increasing crop metal stress tolerance and lead to higher crop yields. #farming #crops #foodsecurity #agriculture #soil SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory