PS PhD Exit Seminar: Pathways to engineer plant Rubisco

In plants, Rubisco is responsible for the assimilation of CO2 during photosynthesis.

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Date/time
19 Aug 2022 3:30pm
person Speaker

Speakers

Timothy Rhodes, PhD candidate, Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
next_week Event series
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Trina Merrell

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Description

 

Abstract: In plants, Rubisco is responsible for the assimilation of CO2 during photosynthesis. Often characterized as a slow and confused catalyst, much attention has been paid to improve (or circumvent) these perceived kinetic shortcomings to increase assimilation. Methods to improve Rubisco either exploit variation already found in nature or engineer the enzyme to have new catalytic properties. In this talk, I will detail some of the progress we have made towards engineering a ‘better’ plant Rubisco through these two methods. From nature, we surveyed the kinetics among high-temperature adapted plants containing the CAM carbon concentrating mechanism. In the lab, we adapted the traditional Rubisco-dependent E. coli (RDE) selection system to work with plant Rubisco and conducted various directed evolution studies. These include evolving a chaperonin complex with the ability to produce maize Rubisco in E. coli, trying to create a selection system that increases Rubisco specificity, and selecting nine putative mutations that influence both kinetics and solubility for tobacco Rubisco.

Biography: My first exposure to research was with Caroline Gross at the University of New England in Armidale where I worked on the pollination ecology of pioneer shrubs. After finishing a Bsc(Hons), I was employed as a research assistant for Bronwyn Barkla at Southern Cross Plant Sciences looking at endopolyploidy changes in a facultative halophyte. With the intent of improving plant Rubisco, I found the Whitney lab and commenced a PhD here at ANU in 2017.

 

Location

Please note: this seminar will be held in the Eucalyptus Rm and via Zoom, details are included below.

Eucalyptus Room, Rm S205, Level 2, RN Robertson Building (46)

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://anu.zoom.us/j/85699434974?pwd=eU1Vd3ZCVms4TURZSE9CeXJjU0RpZz09

 

Meeting ID: 856 9943 4974 Passcode: 994730

 

Canberra time: please check your local time & date if you are watching from elsewhere.

 

Upcoming events in this series

Rowan Sage
7 May 2025 | 12pm

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