Dr Laxmi S. Mishra

Laxmi is a researcher associated with the Penfield lab.

Climate change significantly threatens agriculture and food security by affecting crop yields. To counter this, research is being undertaken to move towards breeding climate-smart crops that adapt to changing environments. The key to this is unlocking the mysteries behind chromosomal gene clusters – groups of genes that work together in a coordinated way and play a crucial role in plant development. However, the reasons these genes cluster together, and their exact role in plant development still need to be fully understood.

Laxmi’s project aims to improve our understanding of stamen development in B. oleracea. The group will use molecular and genetic analysis to identify new regulators of chromosomal gene clusters and also determine how these clusters are affected by heat stress. They will investigate the genetic evolution behind these clusters to understand how they formed and why they are so tightly-knit. Furthermore, insights can be gained into the evolutionary forces that shaped these genetic communities by comparing these gene clusters across different Brassicaceae families.