The root serves a critical role in terrestrial plants: nutrient uptake. Itharvests mineral elements from the soil and provides them toaboveground tissues. Our work has recently shown that the duckweed rootno longer serves this function - and the responsibility is shifted to theshoot. This is accompanied by a reduction in the number of nutrienttransport genes duckweeds possess.
I am investigating this unique biology to explore whether evolution has produced novel, untapped sources of genetic variation which could be leveraged to increase the efficiency of controlled environment growth on earth or in Space. To achieve this, I am employing emerging sequencing technologies (single-nuclei RNA-sequencing).
Alex Ware (Discovery Fellow)
I’ve always had been fascinated by biology and the freshwater environment. As a child I loved getting up close and personal with ponds in the local parks and commons, catching sticklebacks and looking at Daphnia under a crude microscope. As a student, that fascination shifted to dry land, morphing into an interest in plant developmental and molecular biology. I’ve now closed the circle and feel incredibly fortunate to be working on the molecular biology of these amazing freshwater plants! As a BBSRC Discovery Fellow, I'm unravelling the secrets of duckweed nutrient uptake. My research integrates cutting-edge molecular biology, microscopy, and evolutionary bioinformatics, and I thrive on tackling complex biological questions with a multidisciplinary approach. I'm deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists, especially those who find duckweeds as interesting as I do.