Plant abiotic stress refers to the detrimental impacts of non-living environmental factors like mineral deficiency, drought, and salinity on plant growth and productivity. These stressors disrupt cellular processes, impair water and nutrient uptake, and can ultimately lead to reduced crop yields and ecological imbalances. Developing resilient plant varieties and sustainable agricultural practices may mitigate the adverse effects of abiotic stress on global food security. However, this is often challenging due to the complex nature of environmental conditions and climate change. Our lab emphasizes the responses of plants to alkalinity-induced iron deficiency when exposed to drought, as water unavailability is closely related to the exacerbation of stress and is an unavoidable consequence of severe climate change. 

 

Our research focuses on characterizing adaptive responses from cellular to molecular levels that underlie plants' tolerance to abiotic stress. These insights can be crucial for breeders and genetic engineers aiming to target specific traits or genes of interest in order to enhance crop yield and stress tolerance. We are also intrigued by the mechanistic insights into mycorrhizal symbiosis, which promotes the induction of host stress regulatory mechanisms to withstand abiotic stresses. The interactions between beneficial fungi and other helper microbes associated with stress tolerance could potentially facilitate microbiome-assisted breeding and the development of biofertilizers. Our lab aims to explore the potential role of Trichoderma harzianum (a common soil fungus) and its association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and growth-promoting bacteria, which may collectively induce abiotic stress tolerance in crops. These advancements may also contribute to reducing the dependence on chemical fertilizers and encouraging the biofertilizer industries to develop sustainable microbial consortia for agricultural productivity.