Research

Our Projects

Photosynthetic efficiency in a field environment

Currently, we are focused on identifying the genetic factors limiting the efficiency of C3 and C4 photosynthesis in a field environment. This involves physiological analysis of diverse genotypes of soybean, poplar and Miscanthus grown in the field. We seek to identify which aspects of photosynthesis are limiting under real world conditions and test the connection to growth and yield. Through collaboration with geneticists we seek to identify genes controlling essential processes. This will allow us to take engineering approaches to introduce improvements in crop performance.

Directed Evolution for Improving Photosynthesis Enzymes

The major focus of our lab at the moment is to develop platforms for directed evolution of photosynthesis enzymes. Leveraging advances in synthetic biology, genes from higher plants are cloned into a unicellular chassis and continuous directed evolution applied. The long term goal is isolating improved variants are before transforming these back into plants.