What do drought, high light, cold, and salt stresses, as well as pathogen infections and herbivore attacks have in common? They are all obviously harmful to the plant, but what's also fascinating is that they all induce a complex array of organelle and cellular signalling pathways within the plant cell, with unique and overlapping components that enable plants to respond to these perturbations. 

Our research vision is to unravel the intersection of molecular and biochemical mechanisms in plant cells for adaptation to challenging environmental conditions. The insights gained into these fundamental mechanisms feed into applied projects to engineer climate-resilient plants and novel solutions for sustainable food production. Our research can be broadly categorised into three themes:  

Theme 1 - The interface of organelle signalling and metabolism. We aim to understand how chloroplasts and mitochondria play dual functions in the plant cell as 1) metabolic hubs for photosynthesis and respiration respectively, and 2) environmental stress sensors for the cell by releasing a variety of distress signals upon perception of unfavourable conditions. This knowledge will help inform the engineering of climate-proof photosynthesis and respiration in our future crops. Current projects include: 

• Decrypting chloroplast signalling networks in C4 photosynthesis at cell type-resolution

• Regulation of chloroplast redox metabolism via alternative splicing in the nucleus

Theme 2 - Integration of cellular signalling pathways and processes. We aim to unravel how diverse signals and processes within the plant cell are coordinated for the plant to respond appropriately to environmental changes. This understanding is important to safeguard crop growth and production in increasingly unpredictable environments in the future. Current projects include:

• Coordination of chloroplast signals with cellular secondary messengers during abiotic and biotic stresses

Theme 3 - Novel tools for synergistic interplay of fundamental and applied research. We utilise high-throughput chemical biology to develop novel compounds that target individual proteins or processes within the plant cell. For example, we have now developed a suite of compounds that precisely “turn on” a chloroplast signalling pathway to study its role in plant cells (fundamental knowledge); and to activate this signalling cascade in plant leaves to enhance drought tolerance in crops (applied outcome). Current projects include:

• Agrochemical control of stress signalling pathways for enhanced stress tolerance