- Plantebiologi, matsystemer og planteproduksjon
I am a molecular biologist, with experience in understanding plants responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. I have worked with multiple plants (rice, tomato, tobacco and Arabidopsis) during my masters and Ph.D. and currently with conifers (Norway spruce and Scots pine) since my post-doctoral research. I investigate why different plants react very differently under radiation stress, even under the same standardized exposure and growth conditions, by comparing model radio-tolerant species (Arabidopsis) and radio-sensitive conifer Norway spruce. Comparative study of the differential effect of gamma radiation on plant growth and physiology, protective and repair pathways and overall transcriptional and molecular changes in response to radiation stress, will help to elucidate the adverse effects of radiation stress on plants and their coping mechanisms in naturally elevated radiation zones, as well as in accidental cases due to anthropologic activities. Being interested in plant-environment interactions, I am currently studying epigenetic regulation of year long physiological responses such as seasonal growth and dormancy shifts in long lived conifer species Norway spruce and how environmental cues shape this memory.
Group leader: Proff. Jorunn E. Olsen
Publikasjoner