About the Brown Lab

Our lab focuses on two main areas of research:

1) the biology of traits related to plant adaptation to edaphic stress, particularly root architecture, morphology, and anatomy.

2) the physiology and molecular biology of ethylene responses, particularly those involved in root responses to edaphic stress.

Adaptation to edaphic stress

In collaboration with Dr. Jonathan Lynch, our goal is to identify and characterize traits that affect plant performance in the presence of soil stresses, particularly phosphorus deficiency. Soil factors are major limitations to crop productivity worldwide. We hope to provide tools for the development of improved genotypes that could be used by farmers in developing countries to improve their economic situation.

Using common bean and maize as our primary subjects, we examine the strategies used by phosphorus-efficient genotypes and investigate whether and how these strategies help the plant to acquire more phosphorus. We study how the trait is controlled by environmental and endogenous regulators, including plant hormones. Finally, we identify genetic sources and markers that could be used by plant breeders and develop methods to screen for the trait of interest.

Ethylene

Ethylene is well-known for its involvement in ripening, abscission, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. It also has important roles in growth and development of the vegetative parts of the plant. Our work shows that ethylene is particularly important during plant responses to low phosphorus stress. Ethylene interacts with auxin in regulation of root development, including aspects important to poor soils such as root hair development and growth angle of roots.