Our research focuses on the signaling processes that impact plant growth, development, and stress responses, with the goal of improving crop and seed oil production. We investigate the role of phospholipases and membrane lipid turnover in generating cellular mediators and their effects on plant growth and reproduction under stressful conditions. Our research integrates multidisciplinary approaches, including lipidomic profiling, multiplex genomic editing, lipid-protein interactomes, and innovative biochemistry combined with cellular imaging and phenotyping. We use Arabidopsis for discovery and crop plants, such as rice, corn, rapeseed, and camelina, for translational research. Here are examples of our ongoing projects:
Determine the functions of lipidome dynamics in plant response to low phosphorus (P): We aim to understand the signaling and metabolic effects of membrane lipid remodeling in P use and improve crop production with less P fertilizer inputs.
Unravel the molecular interplay between the circadian clock and lipid metabolism: Our goal is to determine molecular interconnections between metabolism and the circadian clock to improve metabolic resilience and seed oil production.
Explore how phospholipases and lipid turnover affect haploid seed production in cereal crops: We aim to elucidate how lipid signaling and turnover affect parental genome transmission in sexual reproduction and improve haploid seed production.
Investigate how lipid signaling affects plant architectures: Our goal is to improve plant root and reproductive architectures, stress resilience, and seed production.
