Research Summary
Research in Dr Sundaresan's laboratory has focused mainly on reproduction in plants using rice and Arabidopsis as models. Transcriptomic and small-RNA datasets were used to understand the genetic and genomic changes that occur during the maternal-to-zygotic transition that is required when the egg cell is fertilized. Insights from this work have been used to create synthetic apomixis, a tool for fixing hybrid vigor in crop species. Genetic analysis has revealed insights into the genes and mechanisms involved in patterning of the Arabidopsis embryo sac. The rice root microbiome has also been studied, describing changes in the microbiome over time and during drought stress.