News & events
News
A plant biologist and geochemist from The Australian National University have both been recognised for their outstanding contributions to their fields of science.
One of the illustrious founder members of RSBS passed away on 11 April 2021. Jeremy David Pickett-Heaps FAA, FRS worked in the (then) Department of Developmental Biology from 1968-70. His surveys of ultrastructural aspects of cell division in green algae (many collected from Lake Burley Griffin and Sullivan’s Creek) led him to a new formulation of the evolution of the Plant Kingdom, a landmark contribution in the plant sciences, now confirmed and fleshed out by sequencing data.
Florence Danila of Australian National University’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis has discovered how plants improve photosynthesis by trapping carbon dioxide inside cell layers.
ANU experts have found a way to precisely measure a crop’s water loss through its skin, not just the pores on their leaves.
A new study shows that long-term drought in biodiverse Amazonian tropical rainforest can fundamentally change the soil, increasing the abundance of an unusual group of fungal species that may help the trees resist drought, and by altering the underlying biogeochemistry.
Three researchers from ANU who've changed the way we see the world have been recognised for their ground-breaking work with prestigious awards from The Australian Academy of Science.
Events
One of society’s greatest challenges is sequestering vast amounts of carbon to avoid dangerous climate change without driving competition for land and resources.
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.
Fungal pathogens are the main causative agents of disease in plants. Fusarium oxysporum is a diverse fungal pathogen able to infect a wide plant host range.
The enzyme Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (RuBisCO) is responsible for the entry of atmospheric carbon into the biosphere during photosynthesis. Despite this key role, RuBisCO maintains several biochemical shortcomings, making it an attractive target for laboratory protein engineering.
Site-specific C-to-U RNA editing is a hallmark of plant organelle transcript maturation. Up to thousands of specific cytidines are converted into uridines in plant chloroplasts and mitochondria, with no evidence of editing activity in the cytosol.
Photorespiration (PR) is the pathway that detoxifies the product of the oxygenation reaction of Rubisco. It has been hypothesized that in dynamic light environments, PR provides a photoprotective function by serving as a sink for excess ATP and/or reducing equivalents.