Plants play an undeniable key role in the bioeconomy. The constant increase in demand for plant-based products as a result of population growth, the need for renewable sources of products and materials, and changes in Earth's climate continues to exert pressure on agricultural practices to become ever more efficient and diversified.

Our lab is developing and implementing tools from the field of Synthetic Biology to reprogram plants to fufill those roles. We are currently developing several genetically encoded devices that can be deployed in plants to sense their environment, process information, and produce the desired responses. These devices include metabolite sensors adapted from bacterial proteins, genetic Boolean logic gates to process endogenous and environmental signals, and small RNA signaling molecules. One of these projects aims to rewire the phenylpropanoid pathway in plants. This specialized metabolic pathway is responsible for the synthesis of a variety of molecules, from lignin monomers to compounds with medicinal properties.

Sensing metabolites of the phenylpropanoid pathway