Sophie Cheeseman

Using biosensors to discover how ABA controls stomatal dynamics and water loss in plants

The project:

The increasing temperature associated with global warming is exacerbating the frequency and duration of drought across the globe. Drought is already one of the largest drivers of yield loss, so making crops more resilient to drought is a necessity for future food security.

The project looks at a major phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA), which is strongly associated with the plant response to drought. Despite characterisation of the metabolic pathways and some transporters of ABA, the exact mechanism by which ABA moves from synthesis to action, causing the phenotypic plant response to drought, is unknown. Working in the model plant, Arabidopsis, as well as two of our most important crops, wheat and rice, understanding ABA patterns will provide insight to how plants respond to drought and open an avenue by which crops could be modified for increased drought tolerance and resilience.

Sophie is a PhD researcher based in the Plant, Photosynthesis and Soil cluster within Biological Sciences at the University of Sheffield. She is supervised by Dr Jim Rowe, and is part of the Rowe group. Her PhD is funded by the Royal Society.