How do plants modulate their nutrient resources during stress and development?

Plants have the extraordinary ability to generate energy through photosynthesis. Yet, during stress or in non-photosynthetic tissues, they must rely on internal resources to meet their energy needs. Being immobile, plants depend entirely on these internal reserves for survival.

At the Tamar Avin-Wittenberg lab, we explore how plants degrade and recycle cellular components to access nutrients during stress and development, focusing on autophagy—a key cellular recycling mechanism. By connecting molecular processes to whole-plant physiology, and using molecular and metabolic techniques, we aim to uncover how these mechanisms enhance plant resilience and metabolic adaptability.

Our findings could have broad applications in agriculture and ecology, providing insights into plant biology and strategies to help plants thrive in challenging conditions.