Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis shaped much of the world as we know it, driving our climate, nutrition and energy resources.

Despite over a century of photosynthesis research, we are currently just starting to scratch the surface of its vast potential to secure future global demand for feed and energy, with current efforts targeting light harvesting, light energy conversion, carbon uptake and conversion, and photosynthate investment for improvement.

These aspects and others are studied in our school at various levels including physiology, molecular and systems biology of photosynthetic cells.
 

Researchers in this field:

Prof. Iftach Yacoby

We study how to store green energy as hydrogen gas. For that aim we study energy transfer in photosynthesis and use synthetic biology to engineer microalgae for the purposes of producing fuels such as hydrogen gas and valuable materials. We also combine nanotechnology as a framework to stabilize energy converting enzymes such as hydrogenase (hydrogen producers). In our research we use advanced chemical and physical methods to analyze the kinetics of gases in solutions, we apply mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. We also use super-fast spectroscopical methods including laser excitation to study natural and engineered photosynthetic microalgae. We perform anaerobic protein isolation and purification, membrane proteins research and construct and design of photobioreactors for scaling up hydrogen and biomass production. 

Lab Website: www.energylabtau.com

Dr. Nir Sade

My lab research is focused on important agricultural traits which are highly effected by abiotic stress such as water movement (hydraulics), water use efficiency, root morphology and carbon/nitrogen allocation. In my lab, efforts are underway, to both discover the genes that regulate those traits as well as to generate crops with better tolerance to harsh conditions. In addition to common molecular and biochemical tools, we use advanced systems for phenotypic characterization of crop plants, including pressure cells, lysimeter systems, systems for measuring gas exchange, and hyperspectral cameras.

Lab Website: https://nirsade1978.wixsite.com/nirsadelab