Biochemical Journal Poster Prize winner

Christian Ruzanski

Christian Ruzanski received his B.Sc. (Hons) in Biotechnology from the Lausitz University of Applied Sciences (LUAS) in Senftenberg, Germany. During his honours project at AgResearch Ltd in Palmerston North (New Zealand) he was working with plant apyrases and their biotechnological application. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, U.K. His research focuses on the mobilization of transitory starch in plant leaves at night. During the last few years, the scientific community has made major progress in this area and it was found that maltose is the major product of starch degradation in plant leaves. Our understanding about the mechanism of maltose metabolism has advanced greatly, but still many questions remain unanswered. Together with Professor Alison Smith and Professor Rob Field, I hope to answer some of these. The overall aim of their research is to create a coherent understanding of maltose metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana.