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PhD in C4 Photosynthesis Research: Carbon Assimilation Research area Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, algae and some bacteria convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates using energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis consists of a complex series of reactions comprising four key stages: light absorption, charge separation, carbon fixation and oxygen evolution. A plant’s efficiency at turning CO2, water and light into biomass is extremely low, typically around 4-5% at best. Where do these limitations come from and can they be overcome to produce crops with higher yields? Some plants (known as C4) have partially solved this problem by developing mechanisms to concentrate CO2 in leaves. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), an African grass related to sugar cane and maize, is grown globally for food, feed, fibre and fuel. Of particular importance to sorghum productivity is C4 photosynthesis, comprising biochemical and morphological specializations that increase net carbon assimilation at high temperatures. Sorghum is the dietary staple of more than 500 million people in over 30 countries, making it the world’s fifth most important crop for human consumption after rice, wheat, maize and potatoes. Working in sorghum provides a unique opportunity to link up-stream science to the challenge of global food security. In fact, members of this broader research team are already working with scientists in sub-Saharan Africa and central-western India to improve crop yields under dry conditions. Through this PhD project we seek to identify genetic variation in traits affecting stomatal conductance, and hence photosynthesis, in C4 plants, using sorghum as a model. Genetic variation in light interception, stomatal conductance, photosynthetic capacity and efficiency exists in a range of major C3 and C4 cereal crops. However, to date, these traits have not been directly targeted for improvement by plant breeders, predominantly due to the difficulty and expense of measuring these traits on large numbers of individuals and the lack of validated targets confirmed to improve crop yield. One approach to capture this genetic variation would be to mine the natural and induced variation to discover genes and mechanisms controlling photosynthetic performance – in this case focusing on carbon assimilation in C4 plants. Organisational Environment This PhD position will be based primarily at the Hermitage Research Facility, located 150 km south-west of Brisbane. The successful candidate will work with a multi-disciplinary team of scientists (crop physiology, quantitative genetics, genomics, plant breeding, molecular biology, simulation modelling, bioinformatics) from the University of Queensland and the Australian National University, as part of the Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, a unique and world-class research collaboration funded by the Australian Research Council. The PhD student will interact closely with other students and staff located at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland’s main campus in St Lucia, Brisbane. Hermitage Research Facility, Warwick The Queensland Government’s Hermitage Research Facility is Queensland’s oldest scientific research institute. Hermitage is a centre of excellence for crop improvement in water-limited environments, with about 50 staff undertaking multi-disciplinary research in summer cereals (sorghum and maize), winter cereals (barley and wheat), and pulses (mungbeans and chickpeas).