Carol Huang

Carol is working under the joint supervision of the Seung and Webster groups.

Starch is a major storage carbohydrate in the grains of wheat and contributes to ~20-50% of total calorie intake in human. The mechanism of starch synthesis in plants involves many proteins and is tightly regulated in response to changes such as availability of substrates, environmental changes, as well as fluctuations introduced by day-night cycles. It is been speculated that large protein complexes are formed during starch synthesis and allows for fine control of the enzymatic activity and enable a location concentrate of substrate to enhanced catalytic efficiency.

In Carol’s project, she will be be studying starch synthesis complexes in wheat endosperm, identifying any complex formed, as well as the structural and functional role of those complex formations.

Carol joined as a PhD student on the John Innes Foundation Rotation PhD programme in 2024, and rotated in the lab of Dr. David Seung, Dr. Chris Morgan, and Dr. Michael Webster.

Previously, Carol studied Plant Sciences (Msci) at University of Bristol and was first introduced to John Innes Centre via the International Undergraduate Summer School in 2022.