Jan IngenHousz Institute

Who is at the Gordon Conference on #Photosynthesis? If you are, make sure to visit JII's Moges Retta at his poster on electron transport.

We're looking for a postdoc! With a PhD in plant biology, biochemistry, biophysics, or a related field, to help us develop methods. 👇 See the link for full info.

#photosynthesis #research #jobopening #postdoc #sharingiscaring

www.jan-ingenhousz-institute.org/vacancies/po...

Luckily, those of us still in Wageningen are not left out; two of our amazing interns are wrapping up their projects this week and are presenting them today as well.
Congrats to Sophie Tolboom and Nikita Monteban!

Also a special shoutout to Mauricio Tejera-Nueves, who is even celebrating his birthday while presenting at the #SEB2025. If you see him, congratulate him! 😜🍻

It's unusually quiet at the institute this week: everybody seems to be in #Antwerp for the SEB conference! #Photosynthesis is well-represented with sessions by Dezra Strand (photo), Juanita Solin and Tom Theeuwen. #SEB2025 @sebiology.bsky.social

Thanks to the technical expertise of Ludovico and others at JII – Atsuko Kanazawa – and Jingcheng Huang, Robert Zegarac and team at partner organization @michiganstateu.bsky.social, we can quickly iterate and improve on the sensors and test them out. We’re looking forward to seeing the results!

Ludovico placed two sensors: one in the full sun with a solar panel, and one in a shady area on batteries. Over the coming months, he will check how they are doing and add more sensors as they become available.

“This is a great location for a test run with these sensors,” Ludovico says, “because it’s actually quite desert-like. It can get over 50 °C here on some days! A perfect place to see if plants react to high temperatures similar to those in Australia, where we want to set up bigger experiments.”

JII Research fellow Ludovico Caracciolo has been one of the people working on the ‘Ambit’ sensor, and here we see him placing one of the sensors in an area within the Hoge Veluwe that is known to be very dry and hot. #hogeveluwe

To really understand #photosynthesis, we need to capture those changes by measuring plants continuously. That’s why we’re working on a #sensor that can remain in the field. And this week we’ve started the first tests during hot weather, at National Park De Hoge Veluwe in the Netherlands.

Such a hot day here in the Netherlands! ☀️
We all adapt quickly when the weather turns. When it starts to drizzle, we put on our rain gear; when the sun comes out, we put on our 😎. This is not surprising. But plants do this too! They adapt their photosynthesis, and they do this within seconds. >>

The Jan IngenHousz Institute is an independent research institute aimed at understanding the limitations of #photosynthesis, in order to drive the improvement of #crops and sustainable #agriculture. To achieve this, we develop and use innovative and #openscience instruments.

Or read the full paper here: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Amazon trees under pressure: new study reveals how forest giants handle light and heat In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at Michigan State University have uncovered how Amazon rainforest canopy trees manage the intense sunlight they absorb.

Read the full story on the website of MSU: www.canr.msu.edu/news/amazon-...

“Leonardo’s work is a great example of the principles on which the Jan IngenHousz Institute is founded: the power of making the tools of science, and the data and knowledge they produce, open and shared,” Kramer adds.

In the future, these insights could also be applied to understand the solar-induced fluorescence signals that can be seen by satellites, thus indicating the “photosynthetic health” of the planet.

As the Amazon experiences increasing stress due to both greenhouse gases and deforestation leading to hotter and drier conditions in the canopy, understanding how trees manage light energy is essential to predicting their future survival.

The findings offer a first-of-its-kind, high-resolution look at how the Amazon canopy navigates seasonal extremes.

“Leonardo’s use of novel open science sensors to probe photosynthesis is a scientific tour de force,” Dave Kramer says. “They showed that the canopy adjusts photosynthesis to balance growth and damage, and it does this even while both light and the environment are rapidly changing.”

With him was the MultispeQ device, an open science instrument by JII’s scientific director David Kramer, that he used to measure how leaves in natural settings balance incoming light with their ability to photosynthesize or dissipate excess energy.

“It’s been a long journey,” said Ziccardi. “Since 2019, we’ve run multiple field campaigns across seasons, climbing giant trees in the heart of the Amazon to understand how these forests respond to environmental changes. We’ve spent hundreds of hours up in the canopy doing measurements.”

Tropical trees act as giant antennas for solar energy, so how do they manage this vast quantity of light without getting damaged? PhD student Leonardo Ziccardi from JII’s partner organization Michigan State University went down to South America, and then up the 65 meter-giants, to find out.

Jan IngenHousz Institute collaborators map photosynthesis deep – and high – in the Amazon!

New paper on some spectacular research by @leoziccardi.bsky.social @starkfloresta.bsky.social , JII's scientific director Dave Kramer and others.

Photos show Leonardo Ziccardi with the MultiSpeQ device.

What drives JII? In Prophyta magazine research fellow Tom Theeuwen talks about our approach, integrating sensors, big data and genetics: "We really want to see what's happening with photosynthesis in crops while they are in the field."
Read the story (page 20/38): www.prophyta.org/prophyta/Pro...

We have exciting new positions open and are looking for talented photosynthesis researchers and engineers to join our team!
- Postdoc/Researcher
- Research Engineer
- Research Assistant

If you're passionate, driven and ready to grow with us, look at the full descriptions:
lnkd.in/d-rVtSZm
#jobs 🌾🧪