Skip to main content

PNNL

  • About
  • News & Media
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Research
    • Scientific Discovery
      • Biology
        • Computational Biology
        • Ecosystem Science
        • Human Health
          • Cancer Biology
          • Metabolic Inflammatory Diseases
        • Integrative Omics
          • Advanced Metabolomics
          • Chemical Biology
          • Mass Spectrometry-Based Measurement Technologies
          • Spatial and Single-Cell Proteomics
        • Microbiome Science
          • Biofuels & Bioproducts
          • Human Microbiome
          • Soil Microbiome
          • Synthetic Biology
      • Chemistry
        • Catalysis
        • Chemical Physics
      • Earth & Coastal Sciences
        • Atmospheric Science
          • Atmospheric Aerosols
          • Human-Earth System Interactions
          • Modeling Earth Systems
        • Ecosystem Science
        • Plant Science
        • Coastal Science
        • Subsurface Science
        • Terrestrial Aquatics
      • Materials Sciences
        • Solid Phase Processing
        • Science of Interfaces
        • Precision Materials by Design
        • Materials in Extreme Environments
      • Nuclear & Particle Physics
        • Dark Matter
        • Neutrino Physics
        • Flavor Physics
        • Fusion Energy Science
      • Quantum Information Sciences
    • Sustainable Energy
      • Electric Grid Modernization
        • Distribution
        • Emergency Response
        • Grid Analytics
          • AGM Program
          • Tools and Capabilities
        • Grid Architecture
        • Grid Cybersecurity
        • Grid Energy Storage
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
          • Earth System Modeling
          • Energy System Modeling
        • Transmission
      • Energy Efficiency
        • Appliance and Equipment Standards
        • Building Energy Codes
        • Building Technologies
          • Advanced Building Controls
          • Building-Grid Integration
          • Advanced Lighting
        • Building and Grid Modeling
        • Commercial Buildings
        • Federal Buildings
          • Federal Performance Optimization
          • Resilience and Security
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
        • Residential Buildings
          • Energy Efficient Technology Integration
          • Home Energy Score
          • Building America Solution Center
      • Energy Storage
        • Chemical Energy Storage
        • Electrochemical Energy Storage
        • Flexible Loads and Generation
        • Grid Integration, Controls, and Architecture
        • Regulation, Policy, and Valuation
        • Science Supporting Energy Storage
      • Environmental Management
        • Environmental Remediation
        • Waste Processing
        • Radiation Measurement
      • Fossil Energy
        • Carbon Management
          • Carbon Capture
          • Carbon Storage
          • Carbon Utilization
        • Subsurface Energy Systems
        • Advanced Hydrocarbon Conversion
      • Nuclear Energy
        • Reactor Licensing
        • Reactor Operations
        • Fuel Cycle Research
        • Advanced Reactors
      • Renewable Energy
        • Grid Integration of Renewable Energy
        • Hydropower
          • Environmental Performance of Hydropower
          • Hydropower and the Electric Grid
          • Hydropower Cybersecurity and Digitalization
          • Materials Science for Hydropower
          • Pumped Storage Hydropower
          • Water + Hydropower Planning
        • Marine Energy
          • Environmental Monitoring for Marine Energy
          • Marine Biofouling and Corrosion
          • Marine Energy Resource Characterization
          • Testing for Marine Energy
          • The Blue Economy
        • Wind Energy
          • Distributed Wind
          • Offshore Wind
          • Uncertainty Quantification
          • Wildlife and Wind
          • Wind Data Archive and Portal
          • Wind Resource Characterization
        • Geothermal Energy
        • Solar Energy
        • Energy Equity & Health
      • Transportation
        • Vehicle Technologies
          • Emission Control
          • Energy-Efficient Mobility Systems
          • Lightweight Materials
          • Vehicle Electrification
        • Bioenergy Technologies
          • Algal Biofuels
          • Aviation Biofuels
          • Waste-to-Energy and Products
        • Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
    • National Security
      • Chemical & Biothreat Signatures
        • Contraband Detection
        • Explosives Detection
        • Pathogen Science & Detection
          • Threat-Agnostic Biodefense
      • Cybersecurity
        • Discovery and Insight
        • Proactive Defense
        • Trusted Systems
      • Nuclear Material Science
      • Nuclear Nonproliferation
        • Nuclear Explosion Monitoring
        • Nuclear Forensics
        • Radiological & Nuclear Detection
        • Ultra-Sensitive Nuclear Measurements
      • Stakeholder Engagement
        • Disaster Recovery
        • Global Collaborations
        • Legislative and Regulatory Analysis
        • Technical Training
      • Systems Integration & Deployment
        • Additive Manufacturing
        • Deployed Technologies
        • Rapid Prototyping
        • Systems Engineering
      • Threat Analysis
        • Advanced Wireless Security
          • 5G Security
          • RF Signal Detection & Exploitation
        • Climate Security
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
        • Internet of Things
    • Data Science & Computing
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Graph and Data Analytics
      • High-Performance Computing
      • Software Engineering
      • Visual Analytics
      • Computational Mathematics & Statistics
    • Lab Objectives
    • Publications & Reports
    • Featured Research
    • Computing & Analytics
  • People
    • Inventors
    • Diversity
    • Lab Leadership
    • Lab Fellows
    • Staff Accomplishments
  • Partner with PNNL
    • Academia
      • Distinguished Graduate Research Programs
      • Internships
      • Visiting Faculty Program
      • Joint Appointments
      • Joint Institutes
      • Linus Pauling Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship
      • Minority Serving Institutions
    • Community
      • STEM Education
        • Resources
        • Student STEM Ambassadors
        • STEM Ambassadors in the Classroom
      • Philanthropy
      • Volunteering
      • Economic Impact
    • Industry
      • Available Technologies
      • Industry
      • Industry Partnerships
      • Licensing & Technology Transfer
      • Entrepreneurial Leave
  • Facilities & Centers
    • All Facilities
      • Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility
      • Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center
      • Energy Sciences Center
      • Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
      • Grid Storage Launchpad
      • Institute for Integrated Catalysis
      • Interdiction Technology and Integration Laboratory
      • Radiochemical Processing Laboratory
      • PNNL Seattle Research Center
      • PNNL-Sequim
      • Shallow Underground Laboratory

Breadcrumb

  1. Research
  2. Scientific Discovery
  3. Earth & Coastal Sciences
  4. Plant Science

Plant Science

Tapping flora to fuel
a changing world

Postdoc Albert Rivas Ubach performs metabolomics research on different systems, from plants and microorganisms to soils and aerosols. His expertise is in the field of LC-MS-based metabolomics and his interests are focused in understanding the ecosystem structure and function by using mass spectrometry techniques.
 

Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Earth & Coastal Sciences
    • Atmospheric Science
    • Ecosystem Science
    • Plant Science
    • Coastal Science
    • Subsurface Science
    • Terrestrial Aquatics
  • Materials Sciences
  • Nuclear & Particle Physics
  • Quantum Information Sciences
  • News & Updates
  • Publications
  • Projects

Increasing droughts and rising temperatures challenge society’s ability to produce plentiful plants in a land- and water-scarce environment. Yet today’s economies are increasingly hungry for sources of power, and see plants as an effective, sustainable source of biomass for fuel.

Improving crop yields

At PNNL, scientists explore ways to meet the increasing demand for plant biomass without negative impacts on the environment, economies, or food production. Their target is to increase crop productivity by 50 to 85 percent in the coming decades without expanding agricultural land area.

Researchers in PNNL’s Plant Science Program work to optimize harvestable plant biomass for fuels and chemicals and look at the use of below-ground carbon pools as a way of improving soil health and developing long-term carbon storage. To get there, they need to know more about adjusting plant metabolism and plant-microbe interactions.  

Inside the phytotron

At the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a Department of Energy scientific user facility located on the PNNL campus, scientists conduct experiments in a controlled research greenhouse called a phytotron. They characterize and model plant phenotypes at the molecular to organismal scale. They also characterize the structure and function of the rhizosphere and phyllosphere microbiome, including soil properties and plant-microbe interactions.

PNNL is developing a new root phenotyping pipeline with 3D modeling capabilities to study how different components of the root system evolve—how they branch and angle, develop during plant growth, and respond to the environmental changes. This new capability supplements traditional rhizoboxes, rhizotrons, and gel-based systems used to grow, monitor, and analyze plants and their developing roots.

Plant science in action

The plant science work at PNNL is part of an ongoing effort called Predicting Ecosystem Resilience through Multiscale and Integrative Science, or PREMIS. Managed by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research, PREMIS explores carbon uptake in ecosystems of increasing complexity, starting with single plants. From laboratory and field experiments to computational models, PNNL researchers examine how genomic and environmental variables inform traits and responses at different scales, from molecules, to plants, to plant ecosystems.

PREMIS builds on a growing list of notable PNNL plant research efforts, including these recent examples:

  • Climate-friendly rice. PNNL led the development of a genetically modified rice plant that emits almost no methane and increases the starch level and yield. Popular Science recognized this breakthrough as a top science development and winner of the grand prize in the engineering category.
  • Advanced sorghum phenomics. Researchers planted and harvested 600 types of sorghum plants in California’s Central Valley, then used observations and molecular analysis to compare plant properties and their ability to thrive in conditions of drought and high salinity.
  • Plants in space. In May 2018, a handful of seeds rocketed to the International Space Station as part of an experiment to understand how plants grow in zero-gravity conditions. Scientists will study the harvested plants and compare them to counterparts being grown in identical conditions—except for gravity—back on Earth.

 

Top Stories

MAY 17, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

One Thousand Dives for Sue Southard: Waves of Scientific Insight for Humankind

Read
Sue Southard
MARCH 21, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

Convergence of Top-Down, Native, and Bottom-Up Mass Spectrometry

Read
Mowei Zhou
SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
Staff Accomplishment

Christer Jansson’s Roots Run Deep

Read
Christer Jansson
SEE MORE RELATED NEWS

Featured Research

JULY 7, 2020
Research Highlight

Digging into the Details of Phosphorus Availability

Read
Photo of plant and roots under ground

PNNL

  • Get in Touch
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Doing Business
    • Environmental Reports
    • Security & Privacy
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Program
  • Research
    • Scientific Discovery
    • Sustainable Energy
    • National Security
Subscribe to PNNL News
Department of Energy Logo Battelle Logo
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is managed and operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn