Astrid Wingler’s research focuses on the responses of plants to the changing environment, aiming to increase the climate resilience of plant production systems in agriculture and forestry. In particular, she researches the regulatory processes, such as sugar signalling, that determine the allocation of resources in plants and thereby enable plants to adjust metabolism and development in response to climate change and stress. This research exploits natural genetic variation to investigate the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms that regulate leaf senescence and other life-history traits.
Currently, Astrid’s main research interests include the allocation of resources in annual and perennial grass species (including the models Brachypodium distachyon and Brachypodium sylvaticum), as well as the impact of climate change on seasonal (phenological) changes in trees.