From algae to plants: understanding pyrenoid-based CO₂-concentrating mechanisms

Pyrenoids are the key component of one of the most abundant biological CO₂ concentration mechanisms found in nature. Pyrenoid-based CO₂-concentrating mechanisms (pCCMs) are estimated to account for one third of global photosynthetic CO₂ capture. Our molecular understanding of how pyrenoids work is based largely on work in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Here, we review recent advances in our fundamental knowledge of the biogenesis, architecture, and function of pyrenoids in Chlamydomonas and ongoing engineering biology efforts to introduce a functional pCCM into chloroplasts of vascular plants, which, if successful, has the potential to enhance crop productivity and resilience to climate change.