Dassanayake Lab
COMPARATIVE
FUNCTIONAL
& EVOLUTIONARY
GENOMICS
OUR RESEARCH INTERESTS
Single-Cell transcriptomes
Dissecting cell-type–specific gene expression to uncover how plants respond and adapt to environmental stress at single-cell resolution.
Extremophyte genomes & transcriptomes
Genomics of invasive species & pests
Identifying genomic signatures of rapid adaptation and invasion success to better understand and manage emerging ecological threats.
Leveraging comparative genomics and transcriptomics to reveal the genetic basis of extreme stress tolerance in halophytes and other resilient plants.
Convergent evolution of extremophytes
Linking genomic variation to gene expression and phenotypic outcomes to understand how plants respond to environmental stress.
Genome to phenome
Investigating how distantly related plants independently evolve similar strategies to tolerate extreme environments.
ExoBiology
Investigating how plants can grow under extraterrestrial conditions to enable sustainable food production for future space exploration.