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Aquaporins are membrane integral proteins responsible for the transmembrane transport of water and other small neutral molecules. Despite their well-acknowledged importance in water transport, their significance in gas transport processes remains unclear. Growing evidence points to the involvement of plant aquaporins in CO₂ delivery for photosynthesis. The role of these channel proteins in the transport of O₂ and other gases may also be more important than previously envisioned. In this study, we examined O₂ permeability of various human, plant, and fungal aquaporins by co-expressing heterologous aquaporin and myoglobin in yeast. Two of the most promising O₂-transporters (Homo sapiens AQP1 and Nicotiana tabacum PIP1;3) were confirmed to facilitate O₂ transport in the spectrophotometric assay using yeast protoplasts. The over-expression of NtPIP1;3 in yeasts significantly increased their O₂ uptake …