Current research
Photosynthesis is the basis of all life on the planet (the exception being small ecosystems sited around deep sea thermal vents). In the past photosynthesis led to the increase in oxygen concentration in the atmosphere that allows us to live, it has also reduced the concentration of the greenhouse gas CO2, was responsible for generating the fossil reserves that we now use for fuel, and now provides us with food.
The aim of our work is to understand how the photosynthetic apparatus is assembled in all major cell-types of a leaf. Because different cell-types of plants contain different numbers of chloroplasts, and various amounts of the photosynthetic apparatus, to understand photosynthesis in higher plants, we need to understand how the photosynthetic apparatus is assembled and regulated in the major cell-types of a leaf.
In some plants, the difference in photosynthetic ability between different cells is particularly marked. For example, C4 plants use a remarkably complex photosynthetic syndrome that involves alterations in biochemistry, anatomy and ulttrastructure. Despite the complexity of the syndrome C4 plants have evolved 45 times from C3 plants.
We are currently investigating:
- The changes in gene expression necessary for the evolution of C4 photosynthesis
- role of photosynthesis in defined cell types of C3 plants