Adequate resources of light, water and mineral nutrients are essential for plants. The Resource Capture Group aims to understand how best to optimise the utilisation of these resources by crops in a changing global environment, by elucidating the genetic control and physiological bases of the traits involved.

We are also interested in how plants compete, as individuals, for these resources and aim to explain this. We have a strong research team that integrates knowledge of plant physiology, particularly of rooting traits, genetics and mathematical modelling. The group is actively involved in the SCRI Living Field educational project.

• Rhizosphere Group

• Nutritional Genomics Group

• Plant Systems Modelling group

• Laboratory Techniques

• Latest Paper and reports

Rhizosphere Group

The region of the soil surrounding plant roots is the site of active root secretion and microbial activity involved in the cycling of nutrients. In the Rhizosphere Group, we aim to understand the physiology of traits which affect resource capture within the rhizosphere and their genetic control.

• Improved barley cultivars for better nutrient acquisition
• The role of potato rooting and rhizosphere microorganisms in mineral nutrients acquisition
• Heterologous expression of genes encoding extracellular enzymes to improve access to organic forms of mineral nutrients
• Effects of dwarfing genes on root growth and nutrient acquisition of wheat and barley (joint work with the Genetics programme)
• Response of root growth to soil water potential (joint work with the Plant-Soil Interactions Group)

Nutritional Genomics Group

Plants require at least 14 mineral elements to complete their life cycle. In the Nutritional Genomics Group we aim to optimise the acquisition and accumulation of these mineral elements within plants; and thereby improve dietary quality and reduce fertiliser input. Our work incorporates classical genetic, molecular-biological, physiological, agronomic and modelling techniques.

• Optimisation of mineral fertilisers in crop production
• Nutritional quality of crops
• Reducing the transmission of toxic elements in the food chain

Plant Systems Modelling Group

• Dynamics of the root exploration wave
• Plant architectural models incorporating genetic knowledge
• Multicellular models of plant morphogenesis
• Computational tools for quantifying plant architecture and development
• Development of an Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) system

Laboratory Techniques

Latest papers and reports

See the EPI highlights The Ecophysiology of Plant-Phosphorus Interaction: Springer Book Series in Plant Ecophysiology, White, Philip J.; Hammond, John P. (Eds.) Journal of Experimental Botany, Special Issue: Transport of Plant Growth Regulators Extraordinarily High Leaf Selenium to Sulfur Ratios Define Se-accumulator, Plants Annals of Botany