Assmann will receive the Life and Health Science award for identifying and determining the functions of important proteins involved in controlling the microscopic openings of in plant leaves. This discovery may have application to producing more drought tolerant crop plants. A world leader in the field of plant cell signal transduction, her research focuses on the elucidation of mechanisms by which higher plant cells perceive and respond to environmental signals. The major experimental system used is the guard cell. Guard cells regulate the opening and closing of microscopic stomatal pores in the leaf epidermis, thereby regulating rates carbon dioxide uptake.
Carbon dioxide is fixed by photosynthesis into carbohydrates.
However, when the stomatal pores open to allow carbon dioxide uptake, loss of water vapor also inevitably occurs. Knowledge of how guard cells control pore apertures in response to environmental signals may ultimately be applied to improve the productivity and drought tolerance of crop plants. Assmann's laboratory is particularly focusing on guard cell signal transduction, guard cell genomics, and technique development. Three other Penn State professors will receive the award. Two other Biology professors are past recipients of the award.