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Fall 2021: Native Grass Drought Physiology

Affiliations:
Project Leader: Nicole Havrilchak
nhavrilchak@tamu.edu
Ecology and Conservation Biology
Faculty Mentor: West, Jason Ph.D.
Meeting Times:
TBA
Team Size:
3
Open Spots: 0
Special Opportunities:
Students will have opportunities to become familiar with photosynthetic gas exchange systems (LI-COR), stable isotopes, biochemistry, plant anatomy, plant hydraulics, and greenhouse management. There is also potential for earning co-authorship/publications
Team Needs:
Interest in plants, ecology, and/or plant physiology, experience using Excel, and strong attention to detail preferred
Description:
Warm season grasses have a specialized mode of photosynthesis (C4 photosynthesis) which allows them to be highly efficient under more stressful environmental conditions (high heat, low water, high light, limited resources). Certain leaf traits, such as leaf size for example, and other features of anatomy may allow certain species to have even more efficient water transport or carbon dioxide transport which can ultimately lead to more efficient photosynthesis. There is a wide diversity, both evolutionarily and biochemically, in C4 grasses as a group. Differences in evolutionary lineage or biochemical subtype might constrain both anatomical characteristics and physiological performance of these grasses. We are interested in understanding how leaf-level traits and anatomy are coordinated with photosynthetic functioning and the movement of water and carbon dioxide in these grasses, especially under droughted conditions. Identifying traits and the leaf-level mechanisms which promote efficient photosynthesis during water stress will be increasingly important as society is faced with future global change scenarios

 

Written by:
Andrew McNeely
Published on:
August 23, 2021

Categories: FullTags: Fall 2021

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