Making the most of sunshine

Photosynthesis Research at the Lancaster Environment Centre

Welcome Louis!

Welcome to Louis Monnier who joins Elizabete’s lab on a 6 month research visit from France. He’s working on wheat and his visit will involve studying the epigenetic effects of nitrogen supplementation on genes related to Rubisco synthesis.

Welcome Nicole!

Welcome (back) to new MRes student Nicole, who has now started her MRes with Sam on understanding solar parks impact photosynthesis in grasses growing under solar panels. Nicole is a returning alumni having previously done her dissertation with the group, contributing to this paper on cowpea.
Welcome back Nicole!

Welcome Emma to Lancaster!

A big Lancaster welcome to Dr Emma Raven, who has just joined to work on the RIPE project as a postdoc with Elizabete and Doug.
Emma recently finished her PhD at the John Innes Centre, and will be working with us on Improving Rubisco regulation in cowpea and soybean.

New PhD opportunities

[Update] Thanks to everyone who got in touch and applied, this round closed on Jan 6th.

We hope to have projects advertised again for the next intake.

 

Exciting news as we have 2 new PhD project opportunities advertised via the North West Bio program.

There are projects with Sam and Doug. These projects are intended to be Lancaster-based, but with strong links to partner institutions and the opportunity to spend at least some of the time working with co-supervisors based at these partner institutions.

Sam is interested in looking at Barley and how it might cope with stress under future high CO2 conditions, using a range of techniques including physiology and hyperspectral imaging with collaborators at the James Hutton Institute and University of Strathclyde. You can find more details here: TOMORROW NEVER DIES: WILL A HIGH CO2 WORLD MEAN LESS STRESS FOR BARLEY?

 

 

 

Doug’s project is around understanding more about the role of the potent Rubisco inhibitor CA1P, and how plants synthesise this compound in response to changes in light conditions. It involves techniques like plant biochemistry, proteomics, and metabolomics, in collaboration with colleagues at Queen’s University Belfast. More details are here: Understanding the synthesis and role of the Rubisco inhibitor CA1P

 

 

 

For full details including eligibility and the application process please see the website for the North West Bio DTP.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the project supervisors before applying.
Applications close on 6th January 2025.

Welcome new PhD researchers!

A big Lancaster welcome to Anna and Quentin who this week begin their PhD journeys!

Anna is joining Elizabete’s group to work on engineering Rubisco Activase thermotolerance, and Quentin joins Marjorie’s group to study C2 engineering in model species.
Anna was previously a Masters student with Doug, while Quentin joins from the US having completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois.

 

 

New publication: investigating the regulation of Rubisco by chloroplast metabolites

Congrats to Ana Lobo on leading a publication with Doug and Elizabete that is now available in early access at the Biochemical Journal.

This is part of work on understanding how to improve photosynthetic productivity in rice, within the EU funded PhotoBoost programme.
The paper focuses on improving our understanding of the potential impacts of some chloroplast metabolites on the activity of nature’s primary CO2-fixing enzyme.

Well done Ana!

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