News & events
News
Scientists at the Australian Research Council (ARC) ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CoETP) have found that some plants have ten times more communication channels inside their leaves than other plants, which they think is a crucial factor in determining photosynthetic efficiency.
ANU congratulates distinguished scientist and ANU Professor Graham Farquhar AO for being named the 2018 Senior Australian of the Year.
Photosynthesis is an essential biological process that depends on the activity of the enzyme Rubisco which catalyses carbon fixation. Rubisco is slow, inefficient and cannot accurately distinguish between CO2 and O2. ANU researchers have been trying to improve the efficiency of Rubisco in crop plants.
The investigations into carbon fixation and gas exchange by RSBS researchers were essential to the understanding of photosynthesis, and the development of new processes to increase the efficiency of the photosynthetic process in agriculture.
Carboxysomes are polyhedral protein micro-compartments in cyanobacteria which concentrate CO2 and increase the efficiency of carbon fixation. In 1993, RSBS researchers Dean Price, Murray Badger and Susan Howitt determined the genetic sequence encoding for the proteins that form the protein shell of a carboxysome.
Legumes are an interesting plant to study due to their symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria called Rhizobia, which are housed within specialised root structures called nodules. The work of ANU researchers has been very important for our understanding of symbiosis, nodule formation and nitrogen fixation.
Events
Plants don’t exist naturally in isolation. They are surrounded by, colonised by, and interact with, microorganisms.
Our research explores the concept of priming-induced stress memory in plants, where exposure to mild or non-lethal stress events equips plants to better confront subsequent, more severe stressors.
The simultaneous measurement of meteorological variables along with ecosystem physiology has improved our understanding of how native and managed ecosystems respond to external forcings like climate change.
C4 photosynthesis is one of the most prolific complex traits in the biosphere, having independently evolved over 70 times in flowering plants. Understanding C4 evolution is providing insights into how evolution builds complex life forms that can transform the biosphere.
Will ecosystems maintain their biodiversity and function under global environmental change, and continue to sequester carbon and slow climate change?
Photosynthesis and leaf respiration are key metabolic processes for plant growth and their carbon exchange with the atmosphere are the largest within the global carbon cycle.