N. Michelle Holbrook
Plant systems

Fluid mechanics governing the transport of water and solutes through the vascular systems of plants and the biophysics of plant growth and development. A major focus concerns the mechanisms used to stabilize water transport under tension and the processes contributing to the repair of cavitated vessels. Other interests include coordination of hydraulic and stomatal control over water flux through plants; root-to-shoot communication; and the growth and mechanical properties of twining vines.

Publications:
Brodribb, T.J. and Holbrook, N.M. 2005. Water stress deforms tracheids peripheral to the leaf vein of a tropical conifer. Plant Physiol. 137: 1139-1146.

Boyce, C.K., Zwieniecki, M.A., Cody, G.D., Jacobsen, C., Wirick, S., Knoll, A.H. and Holbrook, N.M. 2004. Evolution of xylem lignification and hydrogen transport regulation. PNAS 101: 17555-17558.

Zwierniecki, M.A., Boyce, C.K. and Holbrook, N.M. 2004. Functional design space of single-veined leaves: role of tissue hydraulic properties in constraining leaf size and shape. Ann. Bot. (Lond) (in press.)

Choat, B., Jansen, S., Zwieniecki, M.A., Smets, E., and Holbrook, N.M. 2004. Changes in pit membrane porosity due to deflection and stretching: the role of vestured pits. J. Exp. Bot. 55: 1569-1575.

Thompson, M.V. and Holbrook, N.M. 2003. Application of a single-solute non-steady-state phloem model to the study of long-distance assimilate transport. J. Theor.
Biol. 220: 419-455.