The recent creation of a new Chair and 3 Lectureships in plant molecular genetics and cell biology has reinforced the Division's position as an international centre of excellence for fundamental plant research. The strategy of scientists within this group is to carry out research on fundamental processes and their applications that regulate plant growth, development and quality, and to study the interactions between plants, their environment, and other organisms. Our goal is to harness this knowledge to improve crop quality and agronomic performance. A major development has been to strengthen Arabidopsis research to gain new insights into the molecular basis of crop plant processes.
Research is focussed on five multi-disciplinary areas described below.