Speeding towards efficient stomata

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We all understand that plants have stomata that can open and shut. This letsplants control their water loss, and led to them 'greening the Earth' half a billionyears ago, thus paving the way for animals. Since then some plants haveevolved stomatal features that allow them to close their stomata faster whenthey encounter drying environments. For example, ferns have 'slow stomata'and the later evolving grasses have 'speedy stomata'. These speedy stomatahave equipped grasses to conquer dry savannah and desert environments, andhave led to our selection of cereals as major food crops. Surprisingly, despiteour reliance on 'speedy stomata' for food security, we know little about themolecular underpinnings of stomatal efficiency. In this project, for the first time,the student will use infrared gas exchange to quantify stomatal efficiency andcompare this between plant groups, and between crops and their wild relatives.These will be compared with cell wall immunocytochemical and RNAseqtranscriptome studies to pinpoint the key genetic, developmental, and structuraltraits that underpin improved stomatal efficiency. The knowledge gained will beinvaluable in designing crops better suited to more frequent drought periods.