Because of its superior biological and genomic resources, Arabidopsis offers a unique opportunity for the analysis of natural variation. There is now an explosion of Arabidopsis natural variation studies, fueled by the availability of hundreds of accessions (natural genetically diverse populations) collected from geographically distinct locations. Because Arabidopsis is self-pollinating, these accessions are inbred and mostly homozygous, greatly facilitating genetic analysis and mapping. Significant natural variation in Arabidopsis was reported for every phenotypic trait investigated.

My research interests focus on the role of natural variation in three major aspects of plant biology: drought tolerance, phosphorus metabolism and telomere biology. Better understanding of genetic differences underlying these biological processes may provide important insights into the molecular basis for the observed variation in plant responses to abiotic stress and shed additional light on conservation of physiological pathways between various plants and other eukaryotes.