Principal Investigator

In 2020 I joined the Department of Biology of the University of Oxford as associate professor with a tutorial fellowship at Wadham College. My main research interest focus on adaptations to oxygen fluctuations and gradients. In recent years, I developed a passion for synthetic biology in general. 

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

e-mail: francesco.licausi@biology.ox.ac.uk

phone: 01865 (2) 75065 

Twitter 

Postdoctoral researcher

During my doctoral thesis with Prof. Francesco Licausi at the Sant’anna School of Advanced Sciences (Pisa, Italy), I developed interest in root development biology and studied the role of oxygen as diffusible signal in the regulation of root architecture. Thereafter, I joined Marie Barberon at University of Geneva for my postdoc and investigated the molecular regulation of suberin deposition in roots and its consequences on nutrient uptake by plant. In October 2021, I re-joined Licausi lab at the Plant Sciences Department at Oxford University, to continue my work of exploration of the role of oxygen in the regulation of plant development. 

Twitter 

Postdoctoral researcher

I worked on plant gene silencing in Wollongong University (UOW) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia from 2014 to 2021 and developed a new gene silencing technology that allows stable gene silencing in plants and potentially in other organisms. In October 2021, I joined Prof. Francesco Licausi lab at the Plant Sciences Department at Oxford University to study the role of histone lysine demethylase (KDM) in hypoxia. 

Twitter 

Postdoctoral researcher

🍅

Postdoctoral researcher

I finished my doctoral thesis at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa under the supervision of Prof. Beatrice Giuntoli, where I imported plant perception mechanisms into budding yeast using synthetic biology. Using this orthogonal system I could simplify, optimize and better understand plant low-oxygen processes. I now joined the Synoxys Lab of Prof. Francesco Licausi to engineer new hypoxia-responsive orthogonal circuits and link them to multicellular niches.

Twitter 

Postdoctoral researcher

I am from New Zealand, where I completed my doctoral thesis at the University of Auckland investigating the function of two conserved eukaryotic genes in the regulation of growth and flowering in Medicago truncatula. I joined Prof. Francesco Licausi in June 2024 to study the molecular regulation of oxygen sensing and adaptation to hypoxia in M. truncatula nodules.

Postdoctoral researcher

During my PhD at the University of Birmingham I developed novel methods for studying plant mitochondrial dynamics, continuing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, US with a focus on mitochondrial genetics. Building on this and during my time in the Plant Energy Biology Lab in Munster, Germany I developed an interest in the hypoxic niche of the shoot apical meristem, and I joined the Synoxys Lab to develop new imaging techniques and investigate the connection between mitochondrial respiration, dynamics and plant development alongside Professor Licausi and his team.

Twitter | Bluesky | https://mitochondriamove.com/ 

Research Assistant 

I joined Prof. Francesco Licausi’s group in June 2025 to support the lab and assist with the OPTIMiSE (ARIA) project, specifically, the delivery of whole synthetic plastid genomes to an elite potato variety. My background is in plant-fungal interactions, but I am interested in all types of applicable plant science. Outside the lab, I make fine art and scientific illustrations through my art company ‘BESIANA.’ 

Twitter | www.besiana.co.uk

DPhil student

Molecular Biotechnology graduate student with a a strong passion in plant biotechnology. I first joined Prof. Francesco Licausi group for my Master thesis project in December 2020.  During my DPhil project, I aim to investigate the low oxygen sensing throughout the eukaryotic kingdom and its evolution in plants, focusing on the molecular response to hypoxia in the bryophyte Marchantia polymorpha.

Twitter 

DPhil student

Graduate student in plant biochemistry, with a focus on abiotic stress tolerance. As part of the Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP, I split my time between the Licausi group and the Flashman group. My project aims to characterise the oxygen and oxygen-sensing landscape in potato, in both developmental and stress-related hypoxia. Outside the lab, I dabble in science communication and teaching.

DPhil student

I am originally from Shaoxing, China. I moved to the UK in 2021 to pursue my MSc degree in Plant Genetics at John Innes Centre (Norwich). In Yiliang’s group, I was investigating the functional role of a SHORT-ROOT (SHR) RNA structure in Arabidopsis root development. Subsequently, I joined Synoxys Lab here in Oxford as a Bioscience DTP student for my 1st rotational project in Jan 2023. After completing my 2nd rotation in EngBioLab, I returned to Synoxys Lab in Sept 2023 to commence my DPhil project, my primary focus is to understand the dynamics of ERFVII-mediated crosstalk between hypoxia and other stress responses.

Twitter 

Master's student

I am interested in Western Blots, bombs and squeaky mice.

Postdoctoral researcher

I am interested in understanding how microbes and plants cope with nutrient scarcity, especially nitrogen and iron, as a first step towards developing more resilient plants that produce more nutritious food for humans. In the Synoxys lab, we are leading a project focused on legumes such as peas, alfalfa, and common beans, known for their ability to engage in a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. When in symbiosis, these plants develop new organs called nodules with a characteristic microoxic environment meant to sustain nitrogen fixation. Understanding the signalling mechanisms behind this physiological process will help us develop plants better adapted to environmental stresses such as flooding and waterlogging.

Postdoctoral researcher

My interest on plants and oxygen sensing started during my PhD with Prof. Francesco Licausi in Pisa (Italy), Sant’Anna School of Advanced Sciences, where I studied the interaction between low oxygen and heavy metal stress in Arabidopsis and poplar. During this time I also approached the evolutionary biology field while studying how liverworts sense oxygen. I then moved to the University of Nottingham as a postdoc with Prof. Michael Holdsworth, where I continued to study the evolution of oxygen sensing in land plants. In June 2022, I joined again Prof. Francesco Licausi’s group here in Oxford where I will be working on engineering oxygen sensing mechanisms to direct developmental trajectories in plants. 

Twitter 

Lab Technician

I hold a bachelor degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from IZTECH, Turkey. In February 2024, I joined the Synoxys Lab as a technician. My responsibilities mainly include optimizing plant transformation procedures and maintaining in vitro plant cultures of Marchantia, tomato, and potato to investigate molecular responses under hypoxic conditions.

Visiting Master's student

I'm a master's student in Molecular Biotechnology at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and at University of Pisa. During my studies I developed an intrest for the epigenetic regulation of gene expression, plant's physiology and bioinformatics. I joined Prof. Francesco Licausi's group in 2024 to work on my master's thesis. I focused on mutated plants, lacking central enzymes for the anaerobic metabolism, studying their regeneration and their epigenetic modification. I also helped realizing some mutated plant line, both in Arabidopsis thaliana and Marcantia polymorpha.

DPhil rotation student

I am Filippo Costa, DPhil student in the Synoxys Lab. I have a Master of Science in Molecular and Cell Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, both from the University of Bologna. With a background in molecular biology, I am now transitioning to bioinformatics, specifically in statistical computing and genomic data analysis. My research interests include plant physiology, stress responses in plants, along with a keen interest in computational genomics. Over the next few years, my work will be centered on unraveling the genetic mechanisms behind mite-induced gall formation in linden trees. The goal is to synthetically recapitulate gall development, providing insight into the biochemical pathways mites exploit to manipulate their host plants. Outside of research, I enjoy hiking, mushroom foraging, and cooking. 

Master's student

I joined the Synoxys lab in 2023 as a MBiol student carrying on from the Biology undergraduate course at Oxford. I have a keen interest for synthetic biology and the potential that it can bring to research and industry. At Synoxys, I have been able to explore the practical lab work surrounding a synthetic biology-based project looking into a plant molecular pathway that manages the impacts of environmental stress in brewer’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Visiting Master's student

I am a master's student at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, specializing in molecular plant biology and synthetic biology. In October 2023, I joined the Synoxys Lab for my master's thesis, where I am involved in a synthetic biology project aimed at improving the germination of Triticum aestivum under submergence conditions.

Twitter 

Research Assistant

Undergraduate student in Biology at the University of Oxford. Biochemistry is my main area of interest and I am particularly fascinated by the complex mechanisms underpinning decision-making within biological systems. I joined the lab during a year off from studies in 2023, where I am investigating how Arabidopsis plants react to different types of flooding and carrying out large-scale analysis of how flood responses differ between Arabidopsis accessions from all over the world. 

Visiting Bachelor's student

Master's student 

During my second year, I worked in Synoxis lab to learn about basic molecular techniques and plant physiology related to hypoxia. Now, as a Master's degree student in the lab, I am currently working on how root nodules of Medicago truncatula can sense and respond to exogenous hypoxia. 

Master's student 

Lab Technician 

During my master thesis in Molecular Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at the University of Milan (Italy) and at the University of Muenster (Germany) I became fascinated about synthetic biology and hypoxia. This is why I joined Prof. Francesco Licausi lab. My project aims to study the structure and the DNA interaction of the TFs that activate gene expression for hypoxia acclimation in plants.

Twitter 

Visiting student

Master’s student in Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Pisa and Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies with a strong interest in plant physiology and molecular signalling processes. I joined Licausi’s group to carry out my Master thesis project aiming to understand the correlation between oxygen signalling and the processes of nodulation and nitrogen fixation in the symbiotic relationship between the model legume Medicago truncatula and the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti. 

Visiting student

Plant Biotechnology Honors Student at Sant’Anna School of Pisa with great interest in Molecular and Synthetic Biology. I joined Licausi’s team to work on my Master degree thesis project, which aims to rewire molecular components of oxygen sensing from plants and animals, to establish a novel, synthetic signalling pathway. 

Postdoctoral researcher

During my Ph.D I developed an interest in structural biology and its deployment for synthetic biology in green organisms. My Post-doctoral project focused on the design of synthetic genetic circuits to hijack hormonal and environment signalling pathways in plant cells.

DPhil rotation student

After completing my Msci in Plant Sciences at  The University of Manchester working on miRNAs in the Genus Kalanchoe i joined the Interdisciplinerary Biosciences DTP. Because of my interest in SynBio chose to work in the Licausi Group as my first rotation project in which i was engineering an orthogonal Oxygen sensing pathway from Bacteria into Plants.

Visiting student

After my bachelor degree in biomolecular biotechnology at the Univeristy of Florence, I moved to the Univeristy of Pisa to start M.Sc. course in molecular biotechnology. I conducted my thesis project at Licausi Lab; I'm mainly interested in molecular and epigenetic response to hypoxia stress in higher plants.