Petunia plant moves along the conveyor system at the Ag Alumni Seed Phenotyping Facility.
Purdue University is partnering with STR on a DARPA-funded project exploring whether plants can detect synthetic chemical exposures. Associate Professor Joshua Widhalm, director of the Center for Plant Biology, leads Purdue’s involvement, overseeing biochemical data collection and analysis to explain observable changes in plants triggered by chemicals.
Widhalm’s team tests agronomic and horticultural species using imaging technologies, then samples the plants to identify genetic and metabolite changes that explain visible responses. The goal is to determine whether plants respond distinctly to target chemicals versus pesticides or environmental stresses.
Read more: Purdue-DARPA project explores plants as sentinels for chemical activity.