Professor Dr Julian Schroeder

Research Priorities: Biology, plant physiology, biophysics, CO2 binding, abiotic stress resistance
Julian Schroeder is a physicist and biologist. He identifies genes and mechanisms that make plants more resistant to drought and salinity. He and his team have also discovered CO2-binding proteins that mediate plant responses to the continuing rise of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Julian Schroeder recognised early on that solutions to these challenges lie within plants themselves. He has managed to identify genes and mechanisms used by plans to withstand periods of drought. He and his team have also identified genes and mechanisms that make plants more resistant to drought and salinity. Saline soils are becoming ever more common due to climate change, resulting in dramatically altered conditions for food production in many regions of the world.
Julian Schroeder and his team have also discovered CO2-binding proteins that mediate plant responses to the continuing rise of CO2 in the atmosphere, thereby controlling plant water loss. The ultimate aim is to create crop plants that are adapted to environmental conditions in a world affected by climate change so as to ensure food security for the growing global population.
Additionally, many soils and water sources are contaminated by harmful materials such as heavy metals. In some cases these are natural occurrences, but are also caused by pollution caused by humans. Julian Schroeder identified genes and proteins that could play a key role in detoxifying such soils. For example, there are plants that can absorb heavy metals via their roots and store them in special organelles of their cells. These plants could offer an affordable alternative to detoxify soils.