Members:

• ER: Dr. Alvaro Sanz-Saez,
• PhD students: Jagdeep Sighn, Mary Durstock and Joan Zhang
• Technician: Thays Silva

Principal Investigator: Dr. Alvaro Sanz-Saez,

Research goals

The Crop Physiology Lab works to better understand the impact of some  Climate Change abiotic stresses such as water stress, temperature increase, CO₂ and O₃ concentration on the yield response of the main and emerging crops in Alabama such as soybean, cotton, peanut, corn, hemp, barley and hops. We focus on discovering traits and cultivars (including landraces) that are responsible of abiotic stress tolerance such as photosynthesis, N2-fixation, root characteristics and root morphology. To do this, we work in the development of techniques to increase the throughput of regular physiological measurements such as development of software to count stomata or development of techniques that allow the measurement of the photosynthesis of hundreds of cultivars. 

Facilities:

The crop physiology Lab at Auburn University has access to 4 gas exchange portable measurements systems (LI-6800) and 4 LI-6400 to perform photosynthesis phenotyping measurements of big populations. The 4 LI-6800 are equped with fluorometers which allows to take fluorescence measurements. To perform the C and N stable isotope analysis, Dr. Sanz-Saez has a Genogrinder, ball mill and a microbalance exclusively dedicated to isotope sample preparation. In addition, in order to perform high-throughput phenotyping measurements of root characteristics, Dr. Sanz-Saez has built a Rhizovision system that is equipped with 5 digital cameras connected to a laptop to capture the images. In order to perform canopy photosynthesis measurements, the Crop Physiology Lab has built a custom camber that can be used in the greenhouse or the field that has a LI-8100 as gas analyzer. The Crop Physiology Lab is also equipped with a Field Spect Hi-Res4 that allows collection of hyperspectral reflectance data.

As a part of Auburn University, the Crop Physiology Lab have access to 5 research Stations across Alabama (From the North to the South) that grows different row crops with capability of irrigation and in some locations with variable rate irrigation. Dr. Sanz-Saez is the Co-director of the Atmospheric Deposition Site, which is equipped with 12 Open Top Chambers (OTC) Facilities with the capability to increase atmospheric Ozone Levels to approximately 100 ppb. Through collaboration with the USDA-ARS at Auburn, Alabama, the Crop Physiology Lab has access to 12 OTC with the capability to increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration to 200 ppm more than the ambient