Maria Ermakova

Dr. Maria Ermakova’s research focuses on engineering photosynthesis to improve plant productivity. Dr. Ermakova is a research fellow in the C4 Rice project and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis at the Australian National University (ANU), working in the groups of Bob Furbank and Susanne von Caemmerer. She received her PhD from Eva-Mari Aro’s group (University of Turku, Finland) in 2015 where she discovered novel photoprotective pathways in cyanobacteria. At ANU, Dr. Ermakova studies energetics of C4 plants, which have evolved a biochemical CO2 concentrating mechanism allowing them to be more productive, but at higher energy cost. Increasing quantum efficiency of C4 plants could further enhance their productivity and advance our understanding of C4 photosynthesis. The latter is crucial for introducing C4 photosynthetic pathway into C3 plants, which is projected to boost productivity of crops by up to 50%, but requires complex changes in leaf anatomy and biochemistry. In the C4 Rice project, funded by the Gates Foundation, researchers from 7 institutions in 5 countries are working together to apply innovative scientific approaches to the development of high yielding rice varieties for smallholder farmers. As part of the C4 Rice, Dr. Ermakova aims to recreate C4 metabolic pathway in rice.