Contacts
Group membership
Kai Xun Chan completed his Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology with First Class Honours and a University Medal in Biology in 2010 at the Australian National University (ANU). In December 2015 he completed his PhD in Plant Sciences at ANU, elucidating the structural regulation of the chloroplast signaling protein SAL1. After postdoctoral stints at the ANU and at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology in Belgium as an FWO Research Fellow, Kai returned to ANU in 2022 as a Group Leader and ARC DECRA Fellow.
Kai has won numerous awards including the 2017 ACT Scientist of the Year, 2017 ACT Young Tall Poppy Award, and an ANU JG Crawford Medal, the ANU's premier award for graduate excellence. He is the recipient of several competitive fellowships including an ARC DECRA, FWO Research Fellowship and Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission. He also received industry funding such as the 2023 Westpac Research Fellowship and innovation grants from ANU-UC Connect Ventures.
Kai has published in various international peer-reviewed journals including PNAS, eLife, Annual Review of Plant Biology, and Trends in Plant Science (see full list below). He also serves as a reviewer for specialist plant research journals including The Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, The Plant Journal and Journal of Experimental Botany.
-
Westpac Research Fellow, 2023
-
ARC DECRA Fellowship, 2022
-
FWO Research Fellowship, 2017
-
JG Crawford Prize, 2015
Research interests
I am interested in understanding the process of how different components of a plant cell communicate with one another to coordinate responses to environmental challenges. To achieve this, my research focuses on:
- the regulation of signals involved in retrograde communication between chloroplasts and mitochondria with the nucleus during oxidative stresses such as drought and high light stress. Understanding these processes may uncover mechanisms of stress perception in plant energy organelles and and the role of protein redox regulation in organelle signaling.
- the assimilation and partitioning of the key macronutrient, sulfur, during abiotic stress. Sulfur is required for the synthesis of various stress-responsive compounds and its consumption requires careful coordination within the plant.
- utilising high throughput chemical biology to develop novel compounds for targeting and manipulating the biochemical/structural properties of signalling proteins for both fundamental and applied research.
Projects
- Supervisor, Agrochemical control of stress signalling pathways for enhanced stress tolerance
- Supervisor, Coordination of chloroplast signals with cellular secondary messengers during abiotic and biotic stresses
- Supervisor, Decrypting chloroplast signalling networks in C4 photosynthesis at cell type-resolution
- Supervisor, Regulation of chloroplast function via alternative splicing in the nucleus
- Researcher, Linking intracellular communication to whole-plant stress responses
Lecturing and Research Supervision
- Co-convener and lecturer for BIOL3107 / BIOL6107 (Advances in Medical and Plant Biochemistry)
- Supervisor for undergraduate, Honours, Masters and PhD projects - see Projects tab for current projects