gm plants?

Question

when plants are genetically modified, to grow faster, do they produce more oxygen and thus take in more carbon dioxide?

i know they covert the carbon dioxide via photosynthesis, to oxygen and sugar, but don't they use that sugar too aid they growth, as well as the nutrients from the water and the surrounding area

Answer 1

yes, when plants grow faster (for whatever reason) their net photosynthesis rate is faster (c02 consumed, matter and o2 formed) i would say that what is looked for is is not exactly fast growth, but rather resilience to factors that affect photosynthesis and growth: salinity, lack of water, flooding, high temperature......
dont forget that fast growing plants in general tend to poses risk of spreading uncontrollably - like bamboos were introduced to many places to control erosion and the result is nobody can control the bamboo. i think genetic engineering is very promissing but not in this field. i think that cutting down emissions and breeding better crops by GM makes much better sense. besides - the co2 remains contained in the plants only as long as they are here, when the biomass is burned, docomposed, whatever, it is released back. and where would you plant them? you need space for that. i would hate seeing valuable habitats destroyed in order to have room for cultivation of these energy/biomass crops (happens here with rapeseed=ćanola)

Answer 2

Yes, however, plants modified to grow faster don't really exist yet. There are plants that survive under conditions that they didn't previously, such as under drought or saline conditions. Also, plants have been modified to resist disease, to survive herbicides, to have higher nutrient uptake rates, and some even have altered compositions (such as elevated vitamins). The plants mentioned, except for the latter, tend to grow faster than the non-tolerant or non-modified versions (which in some cases won't grow under the conditions mentioned). So, yes in the direct comparisons the modified plants take in more carbon dioxide.

In the final analysis, if you measure the accumulated dry mass of a plant (roots and shoots), it is representative of the carbon dioxide accumulated. Dry mass accumulation is related to the rate of photosynthesis, and therefore related to oxygen evolution. (When plants convert light energy into chemical energy, water (dihydrogen oxide) is split into oxygen and protons (H+). If you think about it you will see that it takes two waters to make one O2 (stable oxygen), and the reaction will yield 4 protons (and 4 electrons)--2 H2O yields O2 plus 4H. 4H yields head, heart, health, hands.

Answer 3

Not in the way you mean.

Plants convert carbon dioxide into sugars and oxygen. Larger plants tend to convert more. Plant growth uses soil nutrients rather than carbon dioxide.

So, they take in more carbon dioxide than a smaller plant would - but they don't take in more to feed growth.

Answer 4

yes this is true.