What do we do?
Our lab is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms by which plants adapt to their surrounding environment which includes:
- Plant interaction with other organisms such as insects, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and other plants.
- Endurance to extreme abiotic conditions such as heat, drought, and cold.
- Coping with constantly changing daily light and dark cycles and 24-hour environmental fluctuations.
- Profiling secondary metabolites in medicinal plants and understanding the underlying mechanisms of their biosynthesis.
- Using artificial intelligence to identify natural products that can be used as biopesticides and study their mode of actions.
What approaches do we use?
Our lab uses Genomics, Molecular, Machine Learning, and Physiological approaches to understand the complex mechanisms that plants evolved to survive in nature. These include:
- High throughput transcriptome and genome sequencing (Illumina and PacBio)
- Deep learning algorithms and Molecular dynamics simulations.
- Chemical profiling and biological screening
- Physiological experiments in both controlled environments (growth chambers) and natural environments (field experiments).