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Current ResearchAn annual grassland mesocosm exploration of scaling from genomes
to ecosystem function This multidisciplinary project investigates the effect of climatic changes on plants and soil microorganisms from an annual grassland ecosystem typical of California. We aim to gain a mechanistic understanding of the coordinated response of these two major players of the ecosystem and link their responses from gene to whole ecosystem function. As part of this project, we have set up greenhouses experiments using mesocosms filled with natural soil collected at Hopland Field Station (CA) and Sedgwick Reserve (CA). The mesocosms were seeded with seven plants species (grasses and forbs) found in abundance in many California annual grasslands. Our focal species, Avena barbata, was grown as a monoculture and in a mixed community. The environmental factors studied with these greenhouses experiments are: three rainfall patterns (increase and decrease of water availability), two soil types (collected from two different California grasslands) and two temperature levels (ambient and +4°C). Within this project, I am interested in studying the effect of climatic changes on plant primary metabolism at the molecular level. Particularly, my studies have involved cloning genes important in plant carbon and nitrogen metabolism and studying their expression in both roots and leaves using real-time RT-PCR. Furthermore, the Joint Genome Institute has sequenced four cDNA libraries from Avena barbata grown under ambient and high rainfall. Analysis of these libraries is ongoing. |
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