Current Research Profile:
The expertise of my lab is in primary metabolism in plants, particularly the metabolism of sucrose and starch. The aim of our research is to discover how the turnover of starch and sucrose are controlled in relation to plant growth and development. We use biochemical, genetic and molecular biological techniques to study starch and sucrose metabolism in Arabidopsis and in cereals.
Specific areas of interest include:
Our collaborators within the John Innes Centre include Kay Denyer, Rob Field, Trevor Wang and Wendy Harwood. Our work forms part of the Primary Metabolism theme of the Institute Strategic Programme: Understanding and Exploiting Plant and Microbial Metabolism.
Our main external collaborators include Andy Greenland (NIAB) and Wayne Powell (IBERS) with whom we (Alison Smith and Kay Denyer) have a joint research project called the Smart Carbohydrate Centre.
