Irving Lab: Plant Ecophysiology

Plant productivity is limited to about 25% of its potential by a wide variety of stresses, including drought, nutrient deprivation, diseases and parasites, etc.  As the human population continues to grow, it will be important to understand the factors which limit production, in order to develop strategies to overcome productivity limitations.

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Our research can be split into three main themes: plant parasitism, growth regulation under resource limitation, and seed germination and establishment.  The image above is of the holoparasitic plant Orobanche minor, which is a major research theme in our group.

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Our group is based in the Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Japan.  Tsukuba city is located an hour outside Tokyo, and is home to the largest concentration of scientific research institutes in Japan.

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Feel free to get in touch if you have questions or would like to study with us.