Physiological ecology of nutrients acquisition in terrestrial plants

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The PI's laboratory studies the physiological ecology of nutrient acquisition in terrestrial plants. It examines the role of nutrient ion fluxes at cellular, whole-organism, and ecosystem levels, in several areas: yield potential in cereals, forest succession, cellular ionic interactions, and drought and salt stresses. Of key interest are plant acquisition mechanisms for nitrogen, plant potassium homeostasis, ion acquisition and homeostasis under salt stress, and the energy cost of primary flux mechanisms at the plasma membrane. The experimental approach ranges from mathematical modelling and high-precision measurement of nutrient fluxes using radiotracers, to the genetic manipulation of nutrient metabolism and acquisition, ionic and metabolic profiling of plant tissues, expression profiling of transporters, electrophysiology, respiration analysis, and field measurements and trials. The PI's laboratory is known for its investigation of the physiology of intact plants, the development of novel methods to tackle the complexities associated with whole systems, and for its effort to identify practical recommendations emerging from the mechanistic study of plant ion transport physiology.