Craig Fairchild Craig Fairchild , Assistant Professor Goddard Hall 106, 831-6014 projects.
Plants adapt their growth and development to their local environment.
I am interested in the biochemical mechanisms underlying these adaptations, especially those that involve light perception and the control of gene expression. While plant responses to environmental conditions are generally adaptive in an evolutionary sense, they often are not desirable for the maximal productivity of crop plants in an agricultural setting. A detailed mechanistic understanding of these processes should facilitate future increases in agricultural productivity. Like many other scientists who wish to understand how plants work at a molecular level, I study the model plant, Arabidopsis. I have characterized an Arabidopsis gene called HFR1 that is involved in the regulation of Arabidopsis seedling development specifically by one of the five phytochromes of Arabidopsis.