Achievement

During Summer 2011, trainee Rachel Kerwin worked with ecologists at UWYo in Laramie, WY to complete a field trial studying the glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway using Arabidopsis thaliana. The field trials showed large and unexpected consequences on pleiotropic plant traits such as yield, fitness and biomass. This work has also shown that glucosinolate profiles in the field are highly similar but not absolutely the same as in the lab. Her ongoing field trials should enable the direct translation of lab to field results and an understanding of pleiotropy.