Leonie Luginbuehl

Leonie Luginbuehl is a Fellow at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the School of Biological Sciences and the Department of Plant Sciences. Her research focuses on beneficial plant-microbe interactions, plant physiology, carbon fixation and allocation, and gene-regulatory networks. She investigates the cost-benefit balance of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, one of the oldest and most widespread symbioses on Earth. Her work employs techniques such as single cell genomics, carbon labelling microscopy, plant transformation, and gene editing. She is also involved in research themes related to carbon sequestration and the economy.

Leonie Luginbuehl is a researcher in Plant Biology, focusing on the molecular mechanisms underlying plant-microbe interactions and chloroplast development. Her work explores the role of fatty acids in arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, the regulation of lipochitooligosaccharide recognition, and the interplay between light, hormones, and transcriptional control in chloroplast biogenesis. She also investigates the evolution of C4 photosynthesis through the exaptation of ancestral cell-identity networks and the spatial patterning of gene expression in C4 plants. Additionally, her research includes the development of fluorescent reporters for functional analysis in rice and the application of reinforcement learning in sustainable agriculture.