Hanna Hõrak, Professor of Plant Genetics

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Research:

Stomata are small pores in plant leaves that mediate CO2 uptake for photosynthesis and water loss via transpiration. Stomatal patterns and apertures are important for plant growth, stress tolerance and productivity. In the Molecular Plant Physiology lab, we are interested in how stomatal patterns are set in plant leaves and once they have been established, how they affect plant physiology, including agriculturally important traits such as plant stress tolerance and yield. Our major focus at present is on understanding how the stomatal distribution between upper and lower leaf surfaces develops and adjusts to the environment in plants, and how different stomatal distributions impact on plant physiology. Our favourite model organism in the lab is Arabidopsis thaliana, where we use different genetics tools to uncover the genes and pathways that control leaf stomatal patterns under various growth environments. We also collaborate with breeders to understand the importance of leaf stomatal patterns in yield and disease resistance under field conditions in cereal crops such as barley and wheat, and in dicot crops such as potato and tomato.