Research focus: Plant agronomic traits
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a halophytic allotetraploid plant native to the Andean region, valued for its ability to produce highly nutritious, gluten-free foods. These qualities make it an increasingly attractive crop in modern agriculture. My research focuses on understanding the regulation mechanism of plant height and yield in quinoa, with the goal of identifying and improving desirable agronomic traits. However, the difficulties of its genome modification have posed significant challenges for gene function studies.
A key objective of this project is to develop CRISPR ribonucleoprotein (RNP)-mediated genetic engineering in quinoa protoplasts, in order to overcome current transformation barriers and enable more effective genomic manipulation.
