barley close up in the field     Arabidopsis thaliana picture in greenhouse     ndvi of field

 

The phenomena of robustness—the ability of organisms to produce consistent phenotypes despite environmental change, disruptions to DNA sequence, or stochastic errors during development—complicates our ability to predict traits from DNA sequences. Our research uses plants to build a fundamental understanding of robustness that can help accelerate crop breeding.

Behind this research are students applying various techniques and ideas to increase understanding of robustness. We are committed to creating a supportive and creative environment to work on compelling questions, whose answers may have impacts in Montana and beyond.

Our lab is currently focusing on investigating the following questions:

1. What molecular mechanisms are responsible for modulating robustness?
2. How can we improve robustness to challenging environments in agronomically important plants?
3. How does robustness to stochastic errors in development arise?

 Photo of our Post-Farm plot taken via drone flyover.

A photo of a plot at the Arthur H. Post Research Farm taken via drone flyover in May 2019. Subsequent photos will help analyze wheat emergence during the spring season.