In the Gunn lab we study and engineer nature’s vital, but notoriously inefficient, CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase), whose catalysis often limits the growth and yield of crop plants.
We look for ways to develop the prerequisite information and tools to express more efficient Rubisco variants in synthetic biology systems and in crops: by identifying unique structure-function, overcoming chaperone incompatibilities, and understanding and utilizing the catalytic influence of the auxiliary Rubisco small subunit.
Robison, T.A., Oh, Z.G., Lafferty, D., Xu, X., Villarreal, J.C.,
Gunn, L.H^., & Li, F.W^. (2025). Hornworts reveal a spatial model for pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanisms in land plants.
Nature Plants.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01871-0Oh, Z-G.^, Robison, T.A., Loh, D-H., Ang, W.S.L., Ng, J., Li, F-W^. and Gunn, L.H^. (2024). Unique biogenesis and kinetics of hornwort Rubiscos revealed by synthetic biology systems. Molecular Plant, 17(12), 1833-1849.
Lafferty, D.J., Robison, T.A., Gunadi, A., Schafran, P.W., Gunn, L.H., Van Eck, J., & Li, F.W^. (2024). Biolistics-mediated transformation of hornworts and its application to study pyrenoid protein localization. J. Exp. Bot., erae243.
Rizzieri, Y. C., Lipari, A., Gunn, L.H. , & Li, F. W^. (2023). Twelve new metagenome-assembled genomes from non-axenic culture of Griffithsia monilis (Rhodophyta). Microbiology Resource Announcements, e00728-23.
Zhou, Y.*, Gunn, L.H.*, Birch, R., Andersson, I., & Whitney, S. M^. (2023). Grafting Rhodobacter sphaeroides with red algae Rubisco to accelerate catalysis and plant growth. Nature Plants, 1-9.
Ekeberg, T., Assalauova, D., Bielecki, J., Boll, R., Daurer, B.J., Eichacker, L.A., ... & Maia, F.R^. (2024). Observation of a single protein by ultrafast X-ray diffraction. Light: Science & Applications, 13(1), 15.
Oh, Z.G., Askey, B. and Gunn, L.H^. (2022). Red Rubiscos and opportunities for engineering green plants. J. Exp. Bot. 74, 520-542.
Mao, Y., Catherall, E., Díaz-Ramos, A., Greiff, G. R., Azinas, S., Gunn, L.H., and McCormick, A.J^. (2022). The small subunit of Rubisco and its potential as an engineering target. J. Exp. Bot. erac309.
- Gunn, L.H., Avila, E.M., Birch, R., and Whitney, S.M. (2020). The dependency of red Rubisco on its cognate activase for enhancing plant photosynthesis and growth. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 117, 25890-2589.
- Bielecki, J., Hantke, M.F., Daurer, B.J., Reddy, H.K.N., Hasse, D., Larsson, D.S.D., Gunn, L.H., Svenda, M., Munke, A., Sellberg, J.A., et al. (2019). Electrospray sample injection for single-particle imaging with X-ray lasers. Science Advances 5:eaav8801.
- Valegård, K., Hasse, D., Andersson, I., and Gunn, L.H. (2018). Structure of Rubisco from Arabidopsis thaliana in complex with 2-carboxyarabinitol-1,5-bisphosphate. Acta Crystallogr. D 74, 1-9.
- Gunn, L.H., Valegård, K., and Andersson, I. (2017). A Unique Structural Domain in Methanococcoides burtonii Rubisco Acts as a Small-subunit Mimic. J. Biol. Chem. jbc.M116.767145.
- Okamoto, K., Miyazaki, N., Larsson, D.S.D., Kobayashi, D., Svenda, M., Mühlig, K., Maia, F.R.N.C., Gunn, L.H., Isawa, H., Kobayashi, M., et al. (2016). The infectious particle of insect-borne totivirus-like Omono River virus has raised ridges and lacks fibre complexes. Sci. Rep. 6, 33170.
- Sharwood, R.E., Ghannoum, O., Kapralov, M.V., Gunn, L.H., and Whitney, S.M. (2016). Temperature responses of Rubisco from Paniceae grasses provide opportunities for improving C3 photosynthesis. Nat. Plants 2, 16186.
