About us

Our researchers seek to discover, understand and expand natural photosynthetic diversity. We are curious about photosynthetic adaptations—including CO₂ concentrating mechanisms—and the opportunities these provide to make crops more productive and resilient. We have extensive expertise on the regulation of Rubisco, the enzyme that catalyses the entry of inorganic carbon into the biosphere. This includes interaction with its catalytic chaperone, Rubisco activase, which modulates Rubisco activity in response to changes in light and temperature. We investigate the role of sugar-phosphate inhibitors of Rubisco activity and the specific phosphatases which degrade them. We are interested not only in understanding the impact of changes in the chloroplast environment on the activity of photosynthetic enzymes, but also the interaction with other cellular organelles such as the mitochondria and peroxisomes, where parts of the photorespiratory cycle take place. Using natural photosynthetic diversity as inspiration, we have active carboxysome and C₂ photosynthesis crop bio-engineering programmes.

We employ methods spanning molecular biology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology, and are interested in a range of scales from molecular to cellular and to leaf and whole plant. We also use modelling approaches to better understand these processes in the leaf, plant and canopy context and link our photosynthesis work to other plant traits such as water-use efficiency. Through our international collaborations, we aim to use our discoveries to create novel germplasm, both through genomic selection to inform crop breeding and through genetic engineering and gene editing. Our goal is to learn from plants and contribute towards more sustainable and climate resilient crop productivity.