Dissecting sensory chloroplasts in specialised cells for climate resilience. This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap in how unique chloroplasts function beyond photosynthesis across four ma

Description

Dissecting sensory chloroplasts in specialised cells for climate resilience. This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap in how unique chloroplasts function beyond photosynthesis across four major cell types of a plant leaf, enabling plants to sense and respond to environmental changes. It aims to dissect how different chloroplasts utilise hydrogen peroxide, a key messenger molecule, in these specialised cells to modulate acclimation to stressful conditions such as excess sunlight. Expected outcomes include an unprecedented, cellular-resolution blueprint of a leaf showing how chloroplast- and cell type-specialisation are coordinated for plant growth and survival. This should provide significant benefits to the engineering of improved climate resilience into key Australian crops including canola and sorghum.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3108 - Plant Biology. Lead: Dr Kai Xun Chan