Disentangling three billions years of the Rubiscome evolution

Date

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Time

12:30-13:30

Venue

CSIRO Black Mountain B1 Lecture Theatre

Speaker

Maxim Kapralov (Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK).

Abstract

Rubisco is an enzyme responsible for assimilation of inorganic carbon into organic biomass in bacteria, algae, and plants. Nearly three billions years of evolution produced a wide spectrum of Rubisco enzymes and their assembly and catalytic chaperones – the Rubiscome that is well adapted to the challenging task of discriminating between carbon dioxide and oxygen, and fixing CO2 under different conditions. Here we present our work on the adaptive evolution of Rubisco and its chaperones, and discuss its biotechnological implications for recombinant Rubisco bioengineering in plants.

Speaker bio

Born and educated in Russia, Maxim did six years of postdocing at the Oxford University (UK) studying genetics of plant adaptations. After this he moved to the Australian National University where he worked on Rubisco bioengineering at the Spencer Whitney’s lab. Since last year Maxim is lecturer and PI at the Liverpool John Moores University (UK).

Publications