• PhD, Duke University

Plant Ecophysiology: Interactions between plants and the environment, Salinity tolerance, Heavy metal accumulation

My laboratory examines salt and heavy metal stress in algae. We address questions of mechanisms of transport of relevant ions, including isotopic fluxes, chemical, biochemical, molecular and electrical analyses. We explore mechanisms of resistance, especially with regard to heavy metals, both in ionic form and as nanoparticles. We are also interested in the possibility of utilizing plants to clean up contaminated environments (phytoremediation). Our work has primarily been with Chara, an alga closely related to the line that gave rise to land plants, and which shows wide variability in salt tolerance. This species may be a useful source of information and genes to generate salt-tolerant crops, and is also currently used to clean up contaminated environments. Work on nanoparticles is primarily with Arabidopsis, in collaboration with the Chemistry Department.

• Clabeaux, B. L., Navarro, D. A. B., Aga, D. S., Bisson, M. A. 2011. Cd tolerance and accumulation in the aquatic macrophyte, Chara australis: Potential use for Charophytes in phytoremediation. Environmental Science and Technology 45 (12), pp 5332–5338
• Chavez Soria, N. B., Monets, M, Bisson, M. A., Atilla-Gokcumen, G. D., Aga, D. S. 2017. Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to assess uptake of silver nanoparticles by Arabidopsis thaliana. Environmental Science: Nano 4: 1944-1953
• Phipps, S., Delwiche, C. F, Bisson, M. A. Salinity-induced changes in gene expression in the streptophyte alga Chara: The critical role of a rare Na+-ATPase. Journal of Phycology 57: 1004-1013 · Beilby, M. J., Bisson, M. A. and Schneider, S. C. 2022. How Characean algae take up needed and excrete unwanted ions - An overview explaining how insights from electrophysiology are useful to understand the ecology of aquatic macrophytes. Aquatic Botany. Aquatic Botany 181: 103542
• Clabeaux, B. L., Navarro, D. A., Aga, D. S., Bisson, M. A. 2013. Combined effects of cadmium and zinc on growth, tolerance, and metal accumulation in Chara australis and enhanced phytoextraction using EDTA. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 98: 236-243