Lucas is already the most experienced microsensor user in our group. Here, he is using an oxygen microoptode to measure radial oxygen loss from roots of rice.

Lucas Peralta started his PhD with me in April 2019. Lucas has a degree in environmental sciences from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. He was awarded an EU Talent scholarship to work on the root barrier to radial oxygen loss and its role in preventing intrusions of phytotoxins from waterlogged soils.

Lucas is already an experienced microsensor user and so far, he has worked with oxygen, hydrogen and sulphide sensors. He is primarily working with rice as a model plant because the barrier to radial oxygen loss is an inducible trait enabling studies on roots with or without this feature.

Already in 2021, his first paper made it to the prestigious journal, New Phytologist - see this link  https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17474, where we report novel funtions of a well-known root trait that also seem to serve a role in drought tolerance.

Progress in Lucas’ research is regularly reported on my blog, or on our Department's official website where Lucas has his own profile.