Research

The team of the Department of photosynthesis studies molecular mechanisms of primary processes of light absorption and energy conversion in photosynthetic organisms, structure of photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes and the interaction of plants with their environment in regulation of gas exchange and carbon dioxide fixation. There are three main research topics:

Molecular mechanisms of Photosynthesis

• Isolation of reaction center of photosystem II
• Localization of the primary pigments in photosystem II
• Characterization of alternative electron donors and processes that protect the reaction center core during excess of radiation
• Analysis of processes on photosynthetic membrane of purple bacteria

Carbon dioxide assimilation

• Gas exchange in leaves and conductance on a level of stomata and mesophyll
• Characterization of variations of conductance in a response to ambient CO2 concentration

Structure of photosynthetic apparatus

• Methods based on transmission electron microscopy and single particle averaging
• Relationship between structure and function of photosynthetic apparatus in various plant, algal and bacterial species