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.
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.
Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a spatial metabolomics technology used to map the distribution of metabolites in tissue cross sections or on surfaces of whole tissues.
A fundamental challenge in biology is dealing with high levels of heterogeneity, from genes in genomes, to developing tissues in an organism, to grass and trees in woodland biomes.