Photosynthesis

Senior Scientists involved: Poul Erik Jensen, Christina Lunde, Tom Hamborg Nielsen, Andreas Blennow, Alexander Schulz

 

Our research is focussed on photosynthetic processes from light-harvesting and electron transport to carbohydrate metabolism and formation and degradation of starch. These processes are tightly regulated for efficient channelling of the energy into desired forms of storage compounds and biomass. We have contributed with original research discoveries within all these areas. Future efforts will be focussed on the molecular mechanisms controlling efficient interplay of photosynthesis and carbon mobilization in plants. In the natural environment, light intensity, temperature, water and nutrient availability fluctuate dramatically. The environmental challenges are expected to be more severe in the future, and normal adaptation of our crop plants via conventional selection procedures may not be adequate. Thus, there is a need for directed strategies to proactively precede these challenges by being able to modulate key elements of the adaptation process. By understanding how plants acclimate to environmental cues at the molecular level, we can use this information to widen the geographical range in which crop plants grow and produce yields that approach the theoretical maximum.

 

 

The dominating organelle within leaf cells is the chloroplast. The chloroplasts play intricate roles in sensing environmental changes via trapping the solar energy, while redox conditions and reactive oxygen species (e.g. hydrogen peroxide and singlet oxygen) generated in the chloroplast are thought to serve as important signalling molecules in adaptation. Integrated understanding of these sensing and adaptation processes to the changing environment is still in its infancy. Our primary research objectives are to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of the cellular tolerance/plasticity towards a changing environment focussing on the chloroplast as the primary sensing organelle and communicator for other cell compartments.