As part of his MSc thesis work, he has grown rice in a new experimental set-up. We have designed a split pot system with roots in sand or hydroponic solution to test local vs systemic root responses to abiotic stress.

We aimed to identify the environmental conditions and plant characteristics that affect plant tissue O2 status. We extracted data and performed meta-analysis on >1500 published tissue O2 measurements from 112 species.

Rice cultivation accounts for 8% of the global anthropogenic CH4 (methane) emissions and 10% of global agriculturally related cropland N2O emissions, and therefore the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from rice production systems is huge.

Studies of roots are always challenging, and until recently we primarily used hydroponics to facilitate easy access to roots. However in some situations, hydroponics do not represent growth in real soils so alternative experimental approaches are needed.

We have now replaced our high pressure Hg lamps with modern LED in the constant temperature room, where we grow rice for experiments. Time will show if the plants like the new light.