Photosynthesis and plant energy biology

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.

Our approaches range from synthetic biology to physiology and plant phenomics. The ANU node of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility is developing new modeling and machine learning approaches to enables us to scale from leaf to field. This means we can translate our knowledge about the biochemistry and physiology of leaves and individual plants to their functioning in agroecosystems, in particular under changing climatic conditions.

Our research is embedded in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates-funded C4 Rice and RIPE (Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency) projects.

 

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
Agrochemical control of stress signalling pathways for enhanced stress tolerance Chan Group - Plant Organelle and Cellular Signalling
C4 Rice Project
  • Furbank Group – Improving photosynthesis and crop yield
  • von Caemmerer Group - CO2 fixation and water loss of leaves
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    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
    Coordination of chloroplast signals with cellular secondary messengers during abiotic and biotic stresses Chan Group - Plant Organelle and Cellular Signalling
    Decrypting chloroplast signalling networks in C4 photosynthesis at cell type-resolution
  • Furbank Group – Improving photosynthesis and crop yield
  • Chan Group - Plant Organelle and Cellular Signalling
    		•
    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
    Mapping the genetic mechanism of plasmodesmata formation and regulation to improve crops Danila Group – Plant cell structure and intercellular communication
    Molecular biofuels Price Group - The cyanobacterial CO2 concentrating mechanism and the use of synthetic biology to transfer it to C3 crop plants
    Novel nutrient/metabolite transporters in apicomplexan parasites
  • Kirk Group - Membrane transport in parasites
  • van Dooren Group - Cell biology and metabolism of apicomplexan parasites
    		•
    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
    Regulation of chloroplast function via alternative splicing in the nucleus Chan Group - Plant Organelle and Cellular Signalling
    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
    Understanding the molecular basis of fungal rust diseases in plants Williams Group - Plant structural immunology
    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
    Resource Type
    Where the wild things grow Outreach

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