End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Rapid climate change reduces productivity in crops. A balance in nutrition and energy recycling is critical for plants to survive under different stress conditions. A research team from the School of Life Sciences identified a novel competitive mechanism of autophagy in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This work provides an important basis for improving the nutrient and energy efficiency in crops to achieve sustainable development. The results were published in Autophagy, a top journal in this field.

Environmental stresses, such as drought, salinity and extreme temperatures, cause over 50% of the worldwide yield loss of major crops every year. A research team from the School of Life Sciences has identified the anti-aggregation mechanism of small heat shock proteins (sHsps) and revealed the structure of sHsps using advanced single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) technology. This study provides opportunities for potential enhancement of thermo-tolerance in crop plants and improvement in crop production. The findings were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications.

The Centre for Organelle Biogenesis and Function has made a major breakthrough in identifying and functionally characterising a new population of giant COPII vesicles in response to hormone regulation and abiotic (drought) stresses in plants. The discovery may lead to the development of more drought-tolerant crops and contribute to future environmental sustainability. The results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Plants.