After a distinguished career of research and teaching, Melvin Calvin died in Berkeley, California on 8 January 1997, at the age of 85. Throughout his life, Calvin exhibited an intense curiosity that drove his scientific research. Although he may be best known for his contributions to our knowledge of photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation and reduction, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

The industrial process of nitrogen fixation is complex and results in a huge economic and environmental impact. It requires a catalyst and high temperature and pressure to induce the rupture of the strong N–N bond and subsequent hydrogenation. On the other hand, carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere has become a priority objective due to the high amount of global carbon dioxide emissions (...

Chemical fixation of CO2 has received much attention because CO2 is the most inexpensive and renewable carbon resource from the viewpoint of green chemistry and atom economy. The kinetic and thermodynamic stability of CO2 molecule presents significant challenges in designing efficient chemical transformations based on this potential feedstock. Currently, cyclic carbonates and polycarbonates are...

Hong et al (Reports, 5 May 2017, p. 527) suggested that previous studies of the biogeochemically significant marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium showing increased growth and nitrogen fixation at projected future high CO2 levels suffered from ammonia or copper toxicity. They reported that these rates instead decrease at high CO2 when contamination is alleviated. We present and discuss results of...

Drought stress is one of the major factors affecting nitrogen fixation by legume-rhizobium symbiosis. Several mechanisms have been previously reported to be involved in the physiological response of symbiotic nitrogen fixation to drought stress, i.e. carbon shortage and nodule carbon metabolism, oxygen limitation, and feedback regulation by the accumulation of N fixation products. The carbon sh...

The nitrogen (N) cycle has the potential to regulate climate change through its influence on carbon (C) sequestration. Although extensive research has explored whether or not progressive N limitation (PNL) occurs under CO2 enrichment, a comprehensive assessment of the processes that regulate PNL is still lacking. Here, we quantitatively synthesized the responses of all major processes and pools...

One of the great discoveries of 20th century biology was the elucidation of the pathway of photosynthetic CO2 fixation by Calvin, Benson, and colleagues (18). Among the many loose ends that remained after the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle had been defined was a series of observations showing that when CO2 was supplied to higher plants in the light, glycolate, Gly, Ser, and several other...

Following multiple reports warning for threats posed by raising levels of atmospheric CO2, it is of paramount importance that human society rapidly evolves to be sustainable. Processes relying on photosynthetic microorganisms, converting CO2 and water into compounds of interest, fueled by light, are very pertinent, particularly if not directly competing for arable land. Here, we identify specif...