Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Keshav Dahal

Keshav Dahal, first author of Growth at elevated CO₂ requires acclimation of the respiratory chain to support photosynthesis

Current Position: Research Scientist-Plant Stress Physiologist, Fredericton Research and Development Centre Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada / Government of Canada.

Education: PhD in Plant Biology (specialization: Plant Stress Physiology) from Western University Canada; MSc in Agriculture Science (specialization: Plant Physiology) from the University of Bonn, Germany.

Non-scientific Interests: Listening to music, reading books, gardening and spending time with family and friends.

Brief bio: My research is focused on investigating the impact of climate-change associated abiotic and biotic stress on photosynthetic performance, plant survival and crop productivity. I am interested in unraveling the underlying mechanisms by which photosynthetic organisms detect and respond to a changing environment, particularly, CO₂, temperature, water and nutrient stress at the physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. My PhD research in Dr. Norm Huner’s lab at Western University has revealed that C-Repeat Transcription Factors play a crucial role in enhancing energy conversion efficiency into biomass and grain yield in winter cereals and canola. During my postdoc in Dr. Greg Vanlerberghe’s lab at University of Toronto, I studied the effects of Alternative Oxidase pathway on improving photosynthetic performance and seed yield of tobacco plants under drought stress. Currently my lab is focused towards developing a high-throughput phenotyping approach that may accelerate screening cultivars with improved stress tolerance and photosynthetic yield potential.