Physiology and toxicology of cellular ion fluxes in plant roots

本实验室研究陆生植物营养获取的生理生态学。它考察了营养离子通量在细胞、整个生物体和生态系统水平上的作用，在几个关键领域：谷类的营养和产量潜力、森林演替、细胞离子相互作用、营养离子毒性和盐胁迫。目前铅的焦点是大量营养元素氮和钾的获取机制，钠的毒害进入机制，以及根细胞质膜通量机制的能量消耗。实验方法在很大程度上借鉴了最近的分子发现，范围从使用放射性示踪剂高精度测量营养通量到使用离子选择电极和荧光染料、组织的离子和代谢概况、呼吸分析、生长试验和细胞通量过程的数学建模。该实验室以研究完整植物的营养生理学、开发处理与整个系统相关的复杂性的新方法以及专注于具有农业和林业重要性的物种而闻名。

Our 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 key areas: nutrition and yield potential in cereals, forest succession, cellular ionic interactions, nutrient ion toxicities, and salt stress. The current lead foci are the acquisition mechanisms for the macronutrients nitrogen and potassium, mechanisms for the toxic entry of sodium, and the energy cost of flux mechanisms at the plasma membrane of root cells. The experimental approach draws heavily upon recent molecular discoveries and ranges from the high-precision measurement of nutrient fluxes using radiotracers to the use of ion-selective electrodes and fluorescence dyes, ionic and metabolic profiling of tissues, respiration analysis, growth trials, and mathematical modeling of cellular flux processes. The laboratory is known for its investigation of the nutrient physiology of intact plants, the development of novel methods to tackle the complexities associated with whole systems, and its focus on species of agricultural and silvicultural importance.