Prof Martha Ludwig completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Biological Sciences, at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She moved to McGill University in Montreal to do post-graduate work that examined how chloroplasts evolved from eukaryotic symbionts in Chlorarachnion and the cryptomonad algae. In her first post-doctoral position, she looked at cell surface antigens in various groups of algae at The University of Melbourne. Dr Ludwig then undertook post-doctoral research studying CO₂ concentrating mechanisms, including the evolution of the C₄ photosynthetic pathway as an ARC Post-doctoral Research Fellow at The Queensland University of Technology and subsequently added cyanobacterial CO₂ concentrating mechanisms at the Research School of Biological Sciences at The Australian National University. She was a lecturer at The Australian National University and Macquarie University, before moving to The University of Western Australia in 2003. Her research focuses on the molecular evolution, biochemistry and genetics of C₄ photosynthesis in mono- and dicotyledonous plants.

President, Australian Society of Plant Scientists

Head of School, Molecular Sciences (2020-2022)

Associate Dean, International, Faculty of Science (2018-2019)

Associate Head of School of Chemistry and Biochemistry/Molecular Sciences, Education (2017-2019)

Master of Biotechnology specialisation coordinator for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Genetics and Genomics (2014-2019)

Master of Biomedical Science specialisation coordinator for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2014-2019)

Evolution of the C₄ Photosynthetic Pathway

My research interests include the cell and molecular biology, molecular genetics and evolution of photosynthetic pathways. Plants require sunlight, water and atmospheric CO₂ to carry out photosynthesis, one of the most fundamental processes on earth. Depending on its biochemistry, a plant is described as a C₃, a C₄ or a Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) plant. C₄ and CAM species have evolved from C₃ plants and this process has occurred multiple times in different families of plants. However, the molecular events underlying the evolution of C₄ and CAM plants from their C₃ ancestors have not been elucidated. We use species from the genus Flaveria that demonstrate C₃, C₄ or C₃-C₄ intermediate-type photosynthesis to examine the anatomical and molecular changes that have occurred during the evolution of C₄ plants. We have focused our work on the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which although involved in both the C₃ and C₄ photosynthetic pathways, shows differences in intracellular location and patterns of expression in C₃ and C₄ plants. We have identified gene sequences that appear responsible for these differences and we are currently examining their functional significance as well as the cellular expression patterns of the enzymes in C₃ and C₄ Flaveria species.

More recently, we have begun to examine the molecular evolution of the C₄ pathway in the Australian native grass subtribe, the Neurachninae. This group is the only known grass lineage with distinct, closely related C₃, C₃-C₄ and C₄ species, and these species are found only in Australia.

My research group uses a combination of cell and molecular biology and genetics techniques to investigate the above research areas. We look at the products of gene expression using in situ localisation methods that involve microscopy with antibodies and nucleic acid probes. We investigate the genes and the sequences controlling when, where and how they are active using recombinant DNA technology; reverse transcription quantitative-PCR; RNA-Seq; and immunoblotting techniques. We use transgenic technologies to examine the functions of gene products, regulatory regions, and to investigate the effects on plant productivity when a plant makes more or less of a given protein than wild type plants.

My group has strong, productive collaborations with other Australian research groups and international researchers in North America and Germany.

Students interested in the above research areas are encouraged to approach Prof Ludwig about potential Honours, master's and PhD projects.

Current Collaborators

Owen Atkin, The Australian National University

Dr Terry Macfarlane, Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions

Prof Peter Westhoff, Heinrich-Heine University, Germany

Prof Andreas Weber, Heinrich-Heine University, Germany

Dr John Lunn, Max Planck Institute for Plant Molecular Physiology, Germany

Prof Mark Stitt, Max Planck Institute for Plant Molecular Physiology, Germany

Prof Nelson Saibo,  Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica NOVA, Portugal

Prof Rowan Sage, University of Toronto, Canada

Assoc/Prof Tammy Sage, University of Toronto, Canada

Molecular Biology of the Cell (SCIE1106), Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Cell (BIOC2001), Biochemical Regulation of Cell Function (BIOC2002), Molecular Biology (BIOC3001), Cellular Biochemistry (BIOC3005), Principles of Inhertitance (GENE2250), Evolution and Development (GENE3350), Genomics (GENE3370)

The molecular evolution of C₄ photosynthesis.

Expertise in:
Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics
Isolation of DNA and RNA; RNA-Seq; construction and screening of cDNA libraries; PCR; RT-qPCR; automated DNA sequencing; RNA-Seq, expression of plant genes in heterologous expression systems; transgenics

Protein Biochemistry
Recombinant protein expression and purification; SDS-PAGE; immunoblotting

Cell Biology
Light, fluorescence and confocal microscopy; transmission electron microscopy; in situ localisation of macromolecules