Brookhaven researchers discover unique protein that could make bioenergy crops more robust

In Illinois, despite their fundamental differences, plants, animals, and fungi share certain metabolic processes. Biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that a unique protein plays a key role in one such process—yet the protein is found only in plants.

As described in a study just published in Science Advances, a deeper understanding of this plant-specific protein could lead to more robust bioenergy crop plants—and potentially a new way to eliminate weeds.