CBH fellow part of new Plant Biotechnology Center
Paul Hudson, Associate professor in Systems Biology, is part of a new research center in Plant Biotechnology, granted SEK 50 million from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF).
“The overall goal of our research center is to improve the productivity of crop plants. This is an ambitious goal, and there are several consortia around the world working on this. Our center will focus on genetic engineering of the chloroplast, where light capture and CO2 fixation occurs,” says Paul Hudson.
The new center is led by Professor Åsa Strand at Umeå University, and will pursue molecular engineering of chloroplasts to enhance both light utilization and metabolic efficiency. Paul Hudson, and his Scilifelab colleague Alexey Amunt from Stockholm University, will try to identify which carbon conversion reactions are limiting the conversion of CO2 to sugars.
“We will systematically vary the amounts of key metabolic enzymes and monitor the effect on CO2 uptake and conversion in the GMO plants, to try to identify which enzymes are the slow steps. We will also partner with Scilifelab facilities to use novel technologies for examining just how these enzymes interact with so-called signaling metabolites that may be responsible for slowing the enzymes down”, says Paul Hudson.
The center in Plant Biotechnology is one of four new research centers in special strategic areas that will receive grants from SSF in the call for Agenda 2030 Research Centers (SSF-ARC). Each center receives SEK 50 million.
Read more about Paul Hudson’s and Alexey Amunts’ research at www.scilifelab.se