Settling in - and some groundbreaking plant science news!

It's been nearly two weeks now since I returned to the lab and I am already starting to feel the effects. Although I won't be doing any 'proper' lab work until the New Year, I have been keeping busy writing up all of my results so far for my compulsory upgrade report. Some of these experiments were done almost two years ago now, meaning that I have had to spend long hours searching through my lab books to try and work out what I was thinking and doing at the time. At least it's shown me how to keep my notes better organised in the future! I have also been finishing the final data anlysis for my experiments which investigated whether Arabidopsis plants that are mutants in key defence signalling pathway genes are more sensitive to parasitism by Striga gesnerioides. These were grown in rhizotrons (root observation chambers), so I was able to literally "scan in" the root systems and save the image. So even though the plants were thrown out many months ago, I still have a record.

One of my Arabidopsis rhizotron scans. You can see the swollen tubercles where the parasite ahs attached to the host.

But it is exhausting work...especially when you have a backlog of 140 rhizotron scans to count. I have taken to setting an alarm for 'screen breaks' to stop my eyes going funny. One day, I was so wrapped up in it all that when I thought it was only 11.30, it was actually nearly 2.00 pm! How time flies... I have to be careful though, as being constantly overtired was one of the factors that caused my health to slide so much last time. So my weeknights are very boring now - coming home, eating, a little pottering on the computer and then bed. I wish I could get more done, but that's somply the way it has to be for now.

Meanwhile, some very exciting plant science was published this month in Science: the first case of GM technology being used to boost productivity by improving photosynthesis. In plants, this reaction converts sunlight into sugar - ultimately the basis of all the food we eat. Researchers at the University of Illinois targeted a process called 'nonphotochemical quenching' NPQ, which protects the plant from strong sunlight by dissipating extra energy as heat. Like a reflex action, this is turned on almost instantly. But if the plant then becomes shaded - by a cloud or the canopy above - it can take up to half an hour to deactivate NPQ, meaning that photosynthesis is less efficient during this time.

My new lab bench, all ready to go! But not just yet...

The researchers transformed Nicotiana tabacum tobacco plants with three different genes coding for proteins which influence the rate of NPQ. These were a subunit of Photosystem II that helps promote the acidic pH needed for quenching, and two enzymes that catalyse the xanthophyll cycle which produces photoprotective pigements. In the engineered plants, NPQ relaxation was considerably quicker, leading to more efficient photosynthesis. When the plants were tested in field trials, the GM Tobacco had yields 14-20 % higher (in terms of the dry weight of the leaves). The project has now secured funding from the Gates Foundation to explore whether this approach could also be successful in food crops, such as rice and soya bean.

Given the increasing challenge of feeding our growing population whilst conserving resources, this could be a game changer. For more information on the story can be found here.

Hope you have a good week ahead, my resolution for the next is for more sleep!