Photosynthesis and plant energy biology

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The capture of CO₂ by photosynthesis using sunlight is fundamental to the maintenance of life on earth. At the Research School of Biology, we study the energy metabolism of plants, algae and cyanobacteria, including the functioning of light capture, CO₂ fixation and the interactions with respiration processes and how these determine growth and productivity of agricultural and natural ecosystems.

Professional staff

Project	Groups
A synthetic biology approach to supercharging plant CO2 fixation	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Abiotic stress signalling, developmental programming and plant adaptation	Masle Group - Environmental sensing, systemic signalling and development: plant resilience to drought and changing climate
C4 Rice Project	Furbank Group – Improving photosynthesis and crop yield von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
Can plants adapt their CO2-fixation capacity in response to climate change?	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Carotenoid derivatives as chloroplast signals	Pogson Group - Chloroplast to nuclear signalling: light, drought and carotenoids
Characterization of low and high CO2 sensitive Arabidopsis photosynthetic mutants	Badger Group - Photosynthetic functional genomics
Characterization of low CO2 sensitive Arabidopsis photosynthetic mutants	Badger Group - Photosynthetic functional genomics
Chemical mechanism of Rubisco catalysis
CO2 acquisition by cyanobacteria and plants, & Synthetic Biology strategies for transplanting cyanobacterial CO2 Concentrating mechanism parts in crop plants	Price Group - The cyanobacterial CO2 concentrating mechanism and the use of synthetic biology to transfer it to C3 crop plants von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
CO2 diffusion inside leaves	von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
Dissecting Rubisco catalysis in C3 and C4 plants	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Dynamic architecture of plant thylakoid membranes between light and dark	Chow Group - Thylakoid structure and function
Electron transport and ATP synthesis in chloroplasts	von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
Enhancing carotenoid levels in cereals by esterification	Pogson Group - Chloroplast to nuclear signalling: light, drought and carotenoids
Entropy as a novel determinant of photosynthetic structure and function	Chow Group - Thylakoid structure and function
Environmental effects on photosynthesis of species with the C3-C4 intermediate photosynthetic pathway	von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
Examining Rubisco - Rubisco activase interactions.	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Exploring the evolutionary protein landscape of Rubisco	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Expression of modified tobacco and foreign Rubiscos in tobacco chloroplasts	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Genome wide association mapping	Borevitz Group - Plant genomics for climate adaption
Genotypic variation in Rubisco between diverse wheats	Evans Group - Physiology of photosynthesis; interactions with nitrogen
Improving C4 photosynthesis by genetic manipulation	Furbank Group – Improving photosynthesis and crop yield
Improving drought tolerance in wheat by selectively inhibiting negative regulators of drought stress signalling	Pogson Group - Chloroplast to nuclear signalling: light, drought and carotenoids
Improving nitrogen use efficiency in cereals	Atkin Group - Plant respiration in a changing world
Investigating adaptive genomic variation underlying drought tolerance in Eucalyptus	Borevitz Group - Plant genomics for climate adaption
Investigating the genetic architecture of thermal acclimation of leaf energy metabolism using GWAS	Atkin Group - Plant respiration in a changing world Borevitz Group - Plant genomics for climate adaption
Investigating the interactions between respiration and photosynthesis in leaf photosynthetic function	Badger Group - Photosynthetic functional genomics
Investigating transcriptional and postranslational regulation of aquaporins	Byrt Group – Engineering plant membrane proteins and solute transport to increase yield security
Isotope effects and natural isotope abundance
Leaf respiration under drought	Atkin Group - Plant respiration in a changing world
Linking intracellular communication to whole-plant stress responses	Pogson Group - Chloroplast to nuclear signalling: light, drought and carotenoids
Manipulating CO2 transport with aquaporins to improve photosynthesis	Evans Group - Physiology of photosynthesis; interactions with nitrogen
Molecular biofuels	Price Group - The cyanobacterial CO2 concentrating mechanism and the use of synthetic biology to transfer it to C3 crop plants
Out of the darkness: predicting rates of respiration of illuminated leaves along nutrient gradients	Atkin Group - Plant respiration in a changing world
Overcoming limitations in engineering the Rubisco small subunits in higher plant chloroplasts.	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Pathways of photosynthetic electron flow under environmental stress	Chow Group - Thylakoid structure and function
Photoprotection and photoinactivation of Photosystem II	Chow Group - Thylakoid structure and function
Photoprotective functions of xanthophyll pigments in avocado	Chow Group - Thylakoid structure and function
Photosynthesis, food security and global change	Evans Group - Physiology of photosynthesis; interactions with nitrogen
Physics of pan evaporation
Physiological and molecular regulation of stomatal movement	von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
Redefining metabolic schemes in plant respiration
Scrutinizing the influence of temperature on Rubisco catalysis	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Student opportunities in molecular analysis of CO2 acquisition by cyanobacteria	Price Group - The cyanobacterial CO2 concentrating mechanism and the use of synthetic biology to transfer it to C3 crop plants
Student projects - additional topics for the future	Atkin Group - Plant respiration in a changing world
Student projects in thylakoid function and structure	Chow Group - Thylakoid structure and function
Student research projects in CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves	von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
Studies on the biochemical regulation of C3 and C4 photosynthesis	von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
The directed evolution of RuBisCO	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
The role of N-terminal post-translational modifications of the tobacco Rubisco large subunit	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Understanding chloroplast/nuclear signaling and response pathways which determine photosynthetic capacity	Badger Group - Photosynthetic functional genomics
Understanding the cellular and genetic basis of differences in photosynthetic leaf capacity between Arabidopsis and a close mustard relative Hirschfeldia incana	Badger Group - Photosynthetic functional genomics
Unravelling novel Rubisco structures in algae	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation
Why is Rubisco from red algae better at CO2-fixation than Rubisco from crop plants?	Whitney Group - Synthetic Photosynthesis - bioengineering enzymes to adjust carbon fixation