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SUMMARY:Cafe Synthetique: Next Generation Crops - Roberto Hofmann (Jones l
 ab\, SLCU)\, Dr Andrew Plackett (Hibberd lab\, Plant Sciences)
DTSTART:20190520T170000Z
DTEND:20190520T190000Z
UID:TALK125113@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Alexandra Ting
DESCRIPTION:USING SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY APPROACHES TO IMPROVE PHOTOSYNTHESIS I
 N RICE\nDr Andrew Plackett\, Hibberd Lab\, Plant Sciences\n\nPhotosynthesi
 s is an essential and fundamental plant process\, fixing atmospheric carbo
 n into sugars. Plant anatomy and physiology have been shaped by the evolut
 ionary pressure to perform this process efficiently. However\, there are d
 ifferent variations of photosynthesis found in nature. Multiple internatio
 nal groups are pursuing a number of approaches to increase the photosynthe
 tic efficiency. For example the ancestral pathway is ‘C3’ photosynthes
 is\, but in some plants this has evolved into more efficient and productiv
 e ‘C4’ forms. I am involved in work that aims to better understand pho
 tosynthesis in rice\, and design approaches to engineer it towards a C4 te
 mplate. C4 photosynthesis is a highly complex trait\, and in nature has re
 quired the reprogramming of multiple aspects of plant development and meta
 bolism across different cell types. I will outline the general challenges 
 associated with phenocopying the complex C4 system\, and discuss ways that
  these could be implemented using a synthetic biology strategy.\n\nUSING L
 IGHT TO PERTURB DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITIONS IN PLANTS\nRoberto Hofmann\, Jon
 es Lab\, SLCU\n\nOur group has re-engineered a bacterial light sensor to f
 unction in plants as a light inducible gene expression system called Highl
 ighter. The aim of this project was to aid our study of hormone distributi
 on dynamics in plant development. However\, such a system might also find 
 applications in agriculture. One example might be the recent interest in c
 ontrolling the timing of crop flowering by regulating the expression of ke
 y flowering genes. Such control might allow farmers to increase yields by 
 coordinating flowering to the more favourable weather conditions. My work 
 aims at altering the photo response of Highlighter and improving the respo
 nse dynamics in order to increase the range of potential use cases. Follow
 ing this I would like to use the system in plants to investigate and modul
 ate developmental transitions including flowering onset.\n
LOCATION:Pantom Arms Pub\, 43 Panton St\, Cambridge CB2 1HL
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