Plant & Environmental Sciences

Our department studies the interaction of plants and microbes with their environment. Specific research topics include the positive and negative effects of biotic (pathogenic and symbiotic) and abiotic (temperature, salinity,oxidative) stresses in plants and microbes, and their roles in adaptation of organisms to the adverse environmental conditions. Another major emphasis of the department is on the genetics of stress signaling pathways.

 

We also study iron homeostasis and biological rhythms in plants.  Several research groups are exploring the microbial ecology of tree surfaces and how microbes grow in biofilms under high salt conditions, while other groups are studying the engineering of microbes as biosensors. Photosynthesis is a major focus of one of the groups, which is investigating the structure and dynamics of the photosynthetic apparatus. All of our research is carried out using state-of-the-art genetic, biochemical and cell biology based approaches.