Dr. Ute Armbruster

Group: „Regulation of Photosynthesis“
New position: Professir at Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf

The group of Dr. Ute Armbruster aimed to identify and characterize regulatory mechanisms of photosynthesis. Particular focus was on the question of how photosynthesis is regulated to achieve efficiency in fluctuating light conditions.

The group studied plant photosynthesis in dynamic light environments. The research team employed an interdisciplinary approach by linking biochemistry with biophysical methods, spectroscopic plant phenotyping, metabolomics and genetics. Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) and Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) as a vegetable crop, their goal was to define the molecular requirements for dynamic photosynthesis. Therefore, they addressed questions at multiple time scales, from (i) seconds (rapid responses) to (ii) days (acclimation) to (iii) evolution (adaptation). Additionally, the aimed to understand (iv) how dynamic photosynthesis interacts with abiotic stresses.