Plant Science
The Plant Science Group (PSG) maintains a broad interest in understanding how plant growth and development is regulated by environmental stimuli and how plants cope with a changing environment. Our research focuses on identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying physiological and developmental adaptation to environmental cues, such as light quality and day length, as well as environmental stress factors such as drought, high temperatures and salinity.
Our aim is to gain fundamental insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of plant growth and development, which determine survival in natural ecosystems and yield and quality traits in agriculture. Plant performance is intricately tied to photosynthetic efficiency, water usage and mineral uptake. Increasing crop productivity will depend on modulating such processes if we are to offer new strategies to meet the growing demand for energy and food security.
Our research also employs synthetic biology and systems approaches to tackle global challenges. Our research strengths include:
- photosynthesis;
- photobiology and UV tolerance;
- ion transport and electrophysiology;
- membrane protein trafficking;
- transcriptional regulation and epigenetics.
Plant Science research within MCSB is primarily based in the Bower Building and is supported by cutting-edge facilities and infrastructure with state-of-the-art confocal imaging including a recently purchased Leica TCS SP8 FRET/FLIM system; glasshouses and specialised illumination rooms, which form part of the recently refurbished plant illumination suite. Our work is also supported by expertise from the Structural Biology and Biophysical Characterisation Facility and Glasgow Polyomics.