Tingting Liu

Tingting Liu started her PhD studies at IAPN in November, 2020. Her PhD project is entitled “Effects of magnesium status on photosynthetic efficiency and water-use efficiency in wheat suffering from drought”.

Tingting Liu (Photo: IAPN)

The focus in the project is set on the research question of how the supply of magnesium (Mg) influences the water-use efficiency of wheat, which suffers from drought stress. To investigate the reactions of wheat to Mg supply and drought stress as well as the water-use efficiency, various measuring methods are used that record the plant physiology, anatomy and metabolism. Assimilation capacity and water consumption, which is controlled by transpiration, are central to water-use efficiency. They are recorded by measuring the photosynthetic gas exchange, the plant water potential and chlorophyll fluorescence, and by microscopy and total plant monitoring on various temporal and spatial scales. The overarching goal of the research project is to develop a more efficient use of water through an adapted fertilization strategy in order to stabilize yields even in phases of drought.

The PhD project is planned for a period of three years and is financed by the Chinese Scholarship Council and K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH. It is supervised by Junior Professor Dr. Merle Tränkner.

Tingting Liu has completed her Master’s studies in 2018 at the Institute of Soil and Water Conservation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, located in Shanxi Province in China. In 2015, she did her Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Resources and Environment at Henan Agricultural University, China.