Engineering biohybrid plants with conjugated-polymer nanoparticles for enhanced photosynthesis and resilience
Supervisors:
Dr Sebastian Sprick, Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde
Prof Peter Cormack, Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde
Dr Eirini Kaiserli, School of Molecular Biosciences, University of Glasgow
Project Summary:
Can light-harvesting materials help plants use sunlight more effectively? A recent breakthrough showed that nanoparticles of the conjugated polymer P3HT can enter Arabidopsis thaliana plants and increase carbon dioxide assimilation and biomass. This PhD will move beyond a single material to discover which nanoparticle properties produce the greatest benefit and why.
The student will prepare organic-semiconductor nanoparticles with tailored light absorption, particle size and surface properties. They will investigate nanoparticle uptake, persistence and localisation in plants using fluorescence microscopy and assess their biocompatibility. Gas-exchange measurements and phenotyping will determine whether selected materials improve photosynthetic performance, growth and biomass under normal, low-light and elevated-temperature conditions. Molecular assays will establish whether nanoparticles act primarily as additional light-harvesting antennas or also influence endogenous light- and stress-signalling pathways.
The project provides highly interdisciplinary training spanning materials preparation and characterisation, plant growth and physiology, microscopy, quantitative phenotyping, and gene/protein expression analysis. The student will work across Strathclyde and Glasgow, gaining experience at the interface of materials chemistry and plant photobiology.
The project will establish design rules for safe biohybrid plant systems, with the longer-term goal of developing sustainable, non-genetic approaches to improve crop productivity and resilience under environmental stress.