CELL BIOLOGY OF PLANT-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS
Characterization of the Cellular Mechanisms that Modulate Plant Development,
Adaptability, and Resilience, in Response to Abiotic Stress
Research in plant science is necessary to combat modern global challenges pertaining to changes in climate, agriculture, and energy use. Our current understanding of plant form and function is limited by the lack of functional knowledge of substantial proportions of plant genomes and comprehensive answers to questions regarding the cellular mechanisms and dynamics pertaining to plant development and interaction with environment. My research interests center around studying the cellular mechanisms that plants have evolved to respond to abiotic stressors and how that has shaped their developmental resilience and survival. In this lab, we are investigating:
a) Which proteins and pathways are gatekeepers in a plant’s transition from cellular regulation to organismal response to environmental extremes?
b) What are the factors that drive the integration of cell-based information throughout the whole organism?
c) How do these pathways contribute to plant adaptability to extreme conditions?
To answer these fundamental questions, using genetic, biochemical, and molecular approaches, we characterize the proteins and cellular pathways localizing at the cell periphery, the ER-membrane contact sites (ERMCSs) and in the endomembrane system to address the basis of plant development in response to environmental fluctuations and stressful conditions.
a) Which proteins and pathways are gatekeepers in a plant’s transition from cellular regulation to organismal response to environmental extremes?
b) What are the factors that drive the integration of cell-based information throughout the whole organism?
c) How do these pathways contribute to plant adaptability to extreme conditions?
To answer these fundamental questions, using genetic, biochemical, and molecular approaches, we characterize the proteins and cellular pathways localizing at the cell periphery, the ER-membrane contact sites (ERMCSs) and in the endomembrane system to address the basis of plant development in response to environmental fluctuations and stressful conditions.
PLANT RESILIENCE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Anthropogenic Impact on Plant Survival, Biodiversity, and Habitat Distribution
Humans rely on plants for the most foundational aspects of sustenance – food, fuel, fiber, pharmaceuticals, etc., to name a few. However, plants rarely feature in the narratives of how human society and civilization were shaped, despite being the mainstay of arguably every primary driver of the Anthropocene. The central paradox that drives my humanistic inquiries into plants is that on one hand extensive human urge of exploration and self-centered interests historically had led to sustained exploitation of plants and other natural resources and on the other, when we now think about mitigating the crises regarding climate and resource sustainability, plants emerge as the answer.
We are interested in studying how exploitative human practices and principles affected plant life and biodiversity -- and what we can learn from plant resilience and adaptibility to environmental stress to find potential answers in mitigating the impending overwhelming climate crisis and means for a sustainable future.
We are interested in studying how exploitative human practices and principles affected plant life and biodiversity -- and what we can learn from plant resilience and adaptibility to environmental stress to find potential answers in mitigating the impending overwhelming climate crisis and means for a sustainable future.