Plant Resilience Research Group

Plants have evolved strategies to survive in natural environments where temperature, light, water, and nutrient conditions fluctuate in complex and dynamic ways—an ability referred to as environmental resilience. Among the various environmental factors, we focus on nitrogen environmental resilience, the plant’s ability to adapt to changes in nitrogen availability. Our research aims to elucidate the molecular basis by which plants regulate nitrogen uptake and utilization under such variable conditions.

 

Nitrogen is essential for agricultural productivity. However, a large portion of applied nitrogen fertilizer is not taken up by crops; instead, it escapes into the atmosphere or leaches into water systems, leading to serious environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. To address these issues and move toward more sustainable agriculture, it is essential to understand and leverage the mechanisms by which plants inherently manage nitrogen acquisition and use.

 

We welcome graduate students and early-career researchers who are interested in this research and in plant strategies for adapting to diverse environmental fluctuations, not only those related to nitrogen but also other environmental factors such as temperature, light, and water availability. Our lab is particularly focused on uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying these adaptive responses. Let us work together to uncover the flexible survival strategies of plants through the lens of environmental resilience.