David Day is an acknowledged international leader of research into plant mitochondrial respiration and symbiotic nitrogen fixation. His mitochondrial research, which includes seminal work on the regulation of the alternative oxidase, has provided a model for the integration of carbon metabolism, mitochondrial electron transport and respiratory gene expression in plants. His research on symbiotic membranes in legumes has defined metabolite exchange between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and their plant host. His research is characterised by the integration of physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology that has placed these discoveries in an organism and environment context.
