Aleca Borsuk

Profile

Aleca Borsuk’s research focuses on the leaf, which is a bridge between the abiotic and biotic worlds. From sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water come the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the biosphere we call home. This transformation—photosynthesis—takes place within the miniature world of the leaf’s interior, where convoluted passageways govern the transport of critical resources such as water and light. Thus, to understand the conditions by which photosynthesis is constrained or optimized, it is necessary to understand how biophysical processes are coordinated within the heterogeneous inner landscape of the leaf. Aleca is working to understand the leaf as a tunable substrate for the reactions of photosynthesis. From this vantage of fundamental plant ecophysiology, Aleca leverage her findings into innovative approaches to conservation and management, agricultural resilience, and bio-inspired clean energy technology.

Selected publications

Saive, R., A. M. Borsuk, H. S. Emmer, C. R. Bukowsky, J. V. Lloyd, S. Yalamanchili, and H. A. Atwater. 2016. Effectively Transparent Front Contacts for Optoelectronic Devices. Advanced Optical Materials doi: 10.1002/adom.201600252

Borsuk, A. and C. R. Brodersen. 2019. The spatial distribution of chlorophyll in leaves. Plant Physiology 180.3: 1406-1417. DOI: 10.1104/pp.19.00094

Mankiewicz, P., Borsuk, A., Ciardullo, C., H_ena_, E. and Dyson, A., (2022). Developing Design Criteria for Active GreenWall Bioremediation Performance: Growth Media Selection Shapes Plant Physiology, Water and Air Flow Patterns. Energy and Buildings, p.111913

Momayyezi, M., Borsuk, A., Brodersen, C., Gilbert, M., Theroux-Rancourt, G., McElrone, A. (2022). Desiccation of the leaf mesophyll and its implications for CO2 diffusion and light processing. Plant, Cell & Environment, 45(5), pp. 1362-1381.

Borsuk, A.M., Roddy, A.B., Theroux-Rancourt, G. and Brodersen, C.R., (2022). Structural organization of the spongy mesophyll. New Phytologist, 234(3), pp. 946-960.

Procko, C., Lee, T., Borsuk, A., Bargmann, B., Dabi, T., Nery, J., Estelle, M., Baird, L.,Brodersen, C., Ecker, J., Chory, J. (2022) Leaf cell-specific and single-cell transcriptional profiling reveals a role for the palisade layer in UV light protection. The Plant Cell, 34 (9), pp. 3261-3279.