Professor LIM, Wallace Boon Leong from the University of Hong Kong visited IHB on June 3, 2024. (Credit: IHB)

On June 3rd, 2024, Professor LIM, Wallace Boon Leong from the University of Hong Kong was invited to the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for an academic exchange. As part of the institute's 2024 Innovation Lecture Series, Professor Lim delivered a presentation titled "The Importance of Balancing ATP and NADPH in Photosynthesis."

In his lecture, Professor Lim discussed the critical role of maintaining the ATP/NADPH ratio within chloroplasts for the smooth operation of photosynthesis. The chloroplast photosynthetic system converts light energy into ATP and NADPH, which are then used in the Calvin cycle for CO2 fixation.

Professor Lim detailed his team's significant recent advancements in the field of energy biology, particularly their development of various fluorescent probes that can quantitatively measure ATP, NADPH levels, and the NADH/NAD+ ratio in plants. These tools have become invaluable for research in plant energy biology.

By real-time monitoring of the concentration changes of energy molecules and reduction equivalents within plants, Professor Lim's team has made groundbreaking progress in understanding the mechanisms behind the balance of ATP and NADPH during photosynthesis.

Furthermore, he introduced the role of the PAP2 gene in regulating the transmembrane transport of photosynthetic proteins, thereby promoting growth and seed yield in Arabidopsis. This discovery provides a potential target for improving photosynthetic efficiency in crops.

Professor Lim is a graduate of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he studied biochemistry, and later obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford. His research focuses on energy conversion in plant chloroplasts and mitochondria, carbon metabolism, and mechanisms for increasing crop yield.