Plant physiology and biosphere-atmosphere interactions

Research group blog:

https://niinemetslab.wordpress.com/        https://twitter.com/NiinemetsLab

 

Photo. Gas-exchange chanber tp perform measurements of plant photosynthesism transgrssion and trace gas (BVOC) emissions under controlled condition (light, temperature, CO2).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The key research areas of the department are plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses, and emission of plant-generated biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC). Global change leads to simultaneous modification of multiple environmental drivers and is expected to result in enhanced frequency and severity of environmental and biotic stresses, and stress interactions worldwide. Interdisciplinary experimental, monitoring and modelling approaches are used to analyze stress effects at the molecular, physiological, whole plant and ecosystem levels. Data obtained from these efforts will be used to determine the limits of adaptation to multiple sequential and interacting stresses and to develop new knowledge and models of BVOC dynamics under changing climatic conditions.

Photo. Cross-section of Populus tremula leaf. Light microscopy.

Left: a leaf grown at ambient CO2. Right: a leaf that is grown at higher concentration of CO2 in the air, is thicker and has better developed photosynthetic tissue.

Anatomical changes, which take place in the photosynthetic tissue under elevated CO2 concentration in the air giving us better understanding of the plants photosynthetic capacity under changing conditions.

 

 

 

 

Photo. Facility to measure constitutive and stress-elicited volatile compounds in the lab (a, b) and in the field-site (c).

Staff                       

Steffen M. Noe	Senior researcher, PhD (Univ. of Darmstadt, Germany)
Astrid Kännaste	Senior researcher, PhD (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
Bakhtier Rasulov	Senior researcher, PhD (Tadzhik Acad. Sci. Dushanbe)
Eero Talts	Postdoctoral reseacher, PhD (Univ. of Tartu)
Triinu Remmel	Reseacher, PhD (Univ. of Tartu)
Tiina Tosens	Assistant professor,PhD (Macouarie Univ, Sydney, Australia)
Lauri Laanisto	Postdoctoral reseacher, PhD (Univ. of Tartu)
Hiie Ivanova	Researcher, MSc. (Est. Univ. of Life Sci.)
Satpal	Postdoctoral reseacher,PhD (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
Yifan Jiang	Postdoctoral reseacher,PhD (Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University China
Tiia Kurvits	Executive director of CoE, Teadusmagister (Univ. of Tartu)
Evi Vaino	Senior technician
Eve Eller	Chief expert
Veronika Sulg	Gardener

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PhD students and their research topics

Vivian Vislap	Foliage structure in stress resistance
Mari Tobias	Structure-function trait relationships
Leila Pazouki	Stress resistance of field plants
Alisa Krasnova	Carbon pools and fluxes
Dmitri Krasnov;	Soil turnover
Kaia Kask	Influence on volatile organic compounds (VOC)-s in Brassica nigra affected by biotic and abiotic stressfactors
Valentina Zolotarjova	Infochemical responses of plants to biotic and abiotic stress
Kanagendran Arooran	Biotechnology
Shuai Li	Plant physiology
Jiayan Ye	Plant physiology
Liisa Kübarsepp	The relationship between stomatal kinetics, size and density
Linda-Liisa Veromann	Effects of rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide on mesofyll diffusion conductance and photosynthesis rate and the emission rate of volatile organic compounds