Professor Julian Hibberd
University of Cambridge
Investigating photosynthesis repression in some cell types of the rice leaf
Currently the work in my lab focusses on understanding why photosynthesis is repressed in some cell types of the rice leaf. Specifically, we are interested in bundle sheath cells as they do not green-up as much as the mesophyll. We are also interested in understanding the regulatory architecture that allows preferential expression of some genes in the rice bundle sheath, and how this integrates with mechanisms used by C4 plants (where the bundle sheath carries out a critical role in photosynthesis).