Postdoctoral Fellow Salk Institute for Biological Studies La Jolla, San Diego, California
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the primary driver of global warming and climate change, causing severe deleterious consequences to the environment, biological diversity, land use and human health. CO2-induced climate change exacerbates land degradation and imposes paramount challenges to global agriculture and food security. Engineering deeper root systems offers an opportunity to promote nitrogen nutrition and drought tolerance in plants, boost carbon sequestration, improve soil health and move towards restoring the natural carbon cycle. Studying the root phenotypes contributing to root system depth and identifying their underlying genes are of high importance for the genetic reprogramming of plants to effectively remove CO2 from Earth's atmosphere. To understand the scope of natural variation in key root traits that positively modulate deep rooting in crop plants, we performed a multi-omics approach to identify genes and pathways governing primary root penetrability and root gravitropic dynamics in Arabidopsis thaliana. We identified numerous candidate genes that were associated with these traits, including genes involved in auxin transport, ABA and JA signaling pathways. We are currently validating and functionally characterizing several of these genes to then use those for the design of ideal plants that facilitate climate change mitigation through improved carbon sequestration and stress resilience.