Laboratorio di ecofisiologia vegetale (L3.03)

Responsabile e Preposto: Pasquale Giorio

The Plant Eco-Physiology Laboratory is dedicated to advancing the understanding of physiological and biochemical processes underlying plant responses to abiotic stress.
Its mission is to optimize the use of instrumentation and methodological approaches employed in experimental trials conducted in controlled environments—such as growth chambers and greenhouses—as well as in open-field conditions, while also enabling the execution of targeted in situ measurements.

The laboratory houses a broad range of scientific instruments and provides technical support for their use and calibration, both for its own equipment and for that of other research units. It also offers training opportunities for students and interns. The available instrumentation includes devices for assessing soil water status (TDR 100; Campbell; Irrometer tensiometers) and plant water status (Zim probes; Scholander-type pressure chamber; Roebling osmometer); systems for gas-exchange measurements and chlorophyll a fluorescence induced by modulated light (Licor Li-6400-XT photosynthesis & fluorescence analyzer; Hansatech FMS1 fluorimeter); continuous-light chlorophyll fluorescence fluorometers (Hansatech Handy-PEA and Pocket-PEA); chlorophyll content assessment (SPAD optical chlorophyll meter, Minolta); dew-point generation (Licor Li-610); Radiation interception and leaf-area estimation (AccuPAR LP80 ceptometer, Decagon; Licor Li-3100C optical leaf-area meter).
In addition, the laboratory is equipped with two imaging systems for research on transpiration and photosynthesis: a FLIR SC 640 infrared thermal camera and a Walz Maxi-PAM fluorimeter.