The key laboratory will be devoted to the key issues of the solar energy bio-transformation and its application to agriculture and energy .

The research of the key laboratory will focus on: 1) the structure and function of photosynthetic membrane pigment-protein complex, and related bionics research, 2) photosynthetic membrane lipid biosynthesis, structure and function, 3) light signal transduction and the molecular mechanism of photosynthetic functional regulation, 4) algae photosynthesis and hydrogen production research, and 5) the molecular mechanism of photosynthesis adaptation to the environment. 

Currently there are 36 staff members, including one academician of CAS, 5 ‘100 Talents Project’ of CAS, and 2 winners of National Outstanding Youth Award. CAS academician KUANG Tingyun was appointed director of the Scientific Committee, Professor ZHANG Lixin will be the Laboratory director.

The establishment of the key laboratory shall promote the integration of basic research and applied research, and make more significant contribute to promoting better and faster economic and social development, said Dr. MA Keping, the director of IOB.

The key lab was formerly a research center of IOB. In recent five years, it obrained 48 research National and CAS, and published 82 scientific research papers on international journals, including Nature, Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta and etc.