How do plants decide where their resources are needed most during growth and stress?

We study how plants coordinate resource allocation across the whole plant to support growth, development, and adaptation to environmental stress.

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Plants are remarkable organisms. Unable to escape changing environments, they continuously adjust their metabolism, growth, and development to cope with fluctuating conditions. This flexibility relies on the ability of different organs to coordinate how resources are allocated, recycled, and redistributed across the whole plant, balancing local demands with the needs of the organism as a whole.

Our research aims to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this coordination, with a particular focus on autophagy, nutrient signaling, and source–sink communication. By connecting molecular and metabolic processes with whole-plant physiology, we seek to uncover fundamental principles of plant adaptation. While our work is rooted in fundamental plant biology, we increasingly extend our findings to crop species to explore their relevance for sustainable agriculture.