The aim of the VILLUM Research Center for Plant Plasticity is to investigate how plants respond to challenges in their environment. These challenges include climate change, drought as well as threats from herbivores or infecting microbes. The Center's innovative and multidisciplinary basic research is focusing on achieving an integrated understanding of the links between molecular changes and the changes in the plant as a whole. This approach will ultimately result in better breeding techniques for the crop plants of the future.
Projects
The researchers at the VILLUM Research Center for Plant Plasticity are investigating plant plasticity as manifested at multiple levels. Each of these levels are represented by a research subproject. Read more about these projects by clicking here ...>
Source of Funding
Plant Plasticity is funded by the VILLUM Foundation. The foundation was established by Villum Kann Rasmussen in 1971, and supports research activities in the natural and technical sciences. Click here to visit the VILLUM Foundation homepage.
What is Plant Plasticity?
How do plants respond to threats? Obviously, plants are unable to run away let alone move when a herbivore approaches, or it's environment is stricken by drought. So how do plants cope? They have a different kind of invisible flexibility, happening in the biochemistry of their cells. Through evolution plants have acquired this special flexibility, which allow them to form an unparalleled diversity of structurally complex bioactive molecules with specialized roles. In a plethora of ways, these molecules help the plant adapt, cope, and assimilate to changes in their environment. This particular flexibility is called plant plasticity and it is the field of study for this research center. Read more about plant plasticity here.