Our lab combines computational and experimental approaches to reveal molecular mechanisms underlying adaptive strategies in plants. We focus on metabolic traits at multiple scales including individual genes, pathways, and networks. We also uncover novel functions, mechanisms, and pathways of 'unknown' genes (those that are not similar to any known genes), which is taking us to areas of research we never thought of studying before.

Why should we study plants?

Introduction by Ruby Tebbutt, 2022 Summer Intern

Front Matter
We aim to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptive traits in the face of heat, drought, nutrient limitation, latitude and pests. We study a variety of plants including models, orphan crops, medicinal and desert plants. More recently our work has involved studying a model nematode C. elegans, fungal pathogens, corals, and piezophilic bacterium. Our group employs computational modeling and targeted laboratory testing to study mechanisms of adaptation, functions of novel genes, organization and function of metabolic networks, and chemical and neuronal code of plant-animal interactions. We are also interested in developing translational research programs involving carbon sequestration by plants and biomass maximization under drought in bioenergy crops. See our Publications and Talks.
STANFORD & MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Stanford sits on the ancestral land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Ohlone people. Consistent with our values of community and inclusion, we have a responsibility to acknowledge, honor, and make visible the University’s relationship to Native peoples.”
"We acknowledge that Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg – the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. We affirm Indigenous sovereignty and hold Michigan State University accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples."