How do plants remember stress?
This spring, we’re running an experiment to uncover how environmental conditions shape plant growth—not just in one generation, but across generations.
We’re working with Arabidopsis, a well-known model plant, using seeds that all start with the same baseline characteristics. From there, we grow them in two very different worlds: a tightly controlled growth chamber (where light, temperature, and humidity are perfectly managed) and the great outdoors, where plants face natural fluctuations and real-life challenges.
By comparing these environments, we can see how plants grow, develop, and adapt under stable versus unpredictable conditions.
But here’s where it gets really interesting.
We’re also tracking the offspring of plants that experienced temperature stress in the previous generation. Can plants “pass on” their experiences? Do seeds produced by stressed parent plants behave differently when they face similar conditions?
Our goal is to find out whether traits shaped by environmental stress—like heat stress—can be inherited, and how these traits show up in the next generation under different conditions.
This research touches on a big question:
Can plants prepare their offspring for the future?
Understanding this could be key to predicting how plants respond to climate change—and how they might adapt to an increasingly unpredictable world.
Stay tuned as we watch this story grow
