Biological Sciences

LSU researchers have created a cross-species single-cell atlas of plant roots, offering a new look at how plants respond and adapt to salt stress. By analyzing more than 200,000 individual root cells across five species, the team found that different cell types play distinct roles in stress response and that salt-tolerant plants have evolved multiple strategies for surviving saline environments. Published in Nature Communications, the study provides new insights into plant resilience that could help guide future efforts to develop crops better suited for increasingly stressful growing conditions.

LSU researcher Laura Lagomarsino will study how tropical flowers evolve with support from a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award. Focusing on wild coffee plants in Colombia, her research explores how shifts in pollinators and environmental conditions drive repeated transitions from small, white flowers to bright, showy blooms across multiple species.

Metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes are increasingly linked to shifts in the gut microbiome, but scientists still don't fully understand how combinations of microbes influence the body's endocrine system. Supported by a five-year NIH R35 award, LSU biological scientist Fan Zhang studies how defined microbial communities work together to regulate insulin signaling along the gut-brain axis. Using the microscopic worm C. elegans as a controlled model, his lab identifies microbial metabolites that activate endocrine pathways, aiming to clarify how microbiome composition and hormone signaling interact to shape metabolic health.