Plants with improved photosynthetic carbon fixation capacity

A method for improving the assimilation of carbon in a plant comprising the steps of:

• a. Inserting into the genome of a plant a nucleic acid encoding an enzyme comprising sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphatase activity operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter, and optionally to a 3′ end region involved in transcription termination and/or polyadenylation;
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• b. Inserting into the genome of a plant one or more nucleic acids encoding one or more polypeptides having the enzymatic activity of glycolate dehydrogenase operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter, and optionally to a 3′ end region involved in transcription termination and/or polyadenylation, wherein said one or more polypeptides are located in chloroplasts of said plants.

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A plant cell, a plant part, a plant or a seed comprising in its genome a nucleic acid encoding an enzyme comprising sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphatase activity operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter, and optionally to a 3′ end region involved in transcription termination and/or polyadenylation;

• and one or more nucleic acids encoding one or more polypeptides having the enzymatic activity of glycolate dehydrogenase operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter, and optionally to a 3′ end region involved in transcription termination and/or polyadenylation, wherein said one or more polypeptides are located in chloroplasts of said plants.

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The plant cell, a plant part, a plant or a seed according to claim 7246, wherein said promoter includes the promoter region of the ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit gene of Oryza sativa or the promoter region of the cytosolic fructose 1,6 bisphosphatase gene of Oryza sativa.

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A method for improving the assimilation of carbon in a plant or for increasing the growth rate or improving the biomass production of a plant, said method comprising the steps of inserting into the genome of a plant

• a. a nucleic acid encoding an enzyme comprising sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphatase activity operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter, and optionally to a 3′ end region involved in transcription termination and/or polyadenylation;
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• b. one or more nucleic acids encoding one or more polypeptides having the enzymatic activity of glycolate dehydrogenase operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter, and optionally to a 3′ end region involved in transcription termination and/or polyadenylation, wherein said one or more polypeptides are located in chloroplasts of said plants.