Climate-controlled indoor farming systems can improve food security for the growing number of city dwellers worldwide. So far, however, only lettuce and related leafy green vegetables are cultivated in these systems. One of the main reasons for limiting indoor production to these crops is that they have lower photosynthetic energy demands compared with other high-value crops, thereby resulting in lower energy consumption and operating costs. Currently, there is great interest in increasing the diversity of crops that can be grown indoors, particularly in relation to fruits and berries. Nevertheless, these crops require high light intensities for optimal photosynthesis and yield, rendering their production unprofitable for indoor farming. One way to reduce operating costs is to develop new varieties with higher photosynthetic efficiency under suboptimal light intensities. To do so, we first need to understand the mechanisms underpinning photosynthetic efficiency.
The student will examine the light responses of several strawberry cultivars grown under low light conditions. Efficient and inefficient cultivars will then be compared at a morphological, physiological and biochemical level to get insights into the mechanisms of photosynthetic efficiency. The student will get training in a range of physiological, analytical and molecular techniques, such as gas exchange analysis (photosynthesis), high performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC), quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), SDS-PAGE and spectrophotometry. It is envisaged that this work will be published in an international peer-reviewed journal.
