Our aim is to understand the synthesis and disassembly of some of the most abundant glycan biopolymers on earth: starch, cellulose and the non-cellulosic components of the cell wall. We are interested in the structure and function of these plant glycans and in the nature, function and evolution of the enzymes responsible for their synthesis and disassembly (both in the plant and during industrial processing). Further areas of interest concern the extraction and exploitation of polysaccharide components from waste and the isolation, identification and characterisation of bioactive carbohydrate components in foods. We use a multitude of practical techniques and disciplines, including biochemistry, chemistry, genetics, biology and materials science. Our goal is to understand the existing variation in starch, cell walls and other carbohydrates between plant species and organs, foods and waste materials and to engineer or select further useful variations of this type.

i. Rhamnogalacturonan-II (RG-II) - one of the most complex oligosaccharides found in nature. It is an integral part of the plant cell wall. Rob Field's group is working to understand its structure, biosynthesis and biological function.
Picture by Sergey Nepogodiev.

ii. A model of the complex formed between amylose and the starch binding domain of Aspergillus niger glucoamylase.
Picture by Vic Morris.

iii. A model of the complex between the wheat xylanase inhibitor and two xylanases.
Picture by Nathalie Juge.