About

Craig Brodersen is the Howard and Maryam Newman Professor of Plant Physiological Ecology at Yale School of the Environment. His research focuses on the structure and function of plants, with particular interest in how plants efficiently utilize water and light, two of the most limiting resources on Earth. His work also emphasizes the implications of environmental conditions that push plants beyond their physiological thresholds. Brodersen's research contributes to understanding ecosystem dynamics, biodiversity, and the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems, forestry, and plant physiology. He is actively accepting doctoral students and has made significant contributions to the scientific community through his publications and research on plant microbiomes, dehydration responses, and plant structural adaptations. Brodersen is involved in exploring novel methods to measure microscopic changes in plant cells and has been recognized for his research with a named professorship at Yale. His work is integral to advancing knowledge in climate science, ecosystem management, and plant ecology, supporting efforts to develop more resilient plant systems in the face of environmental challenges.

Research topics

• Biology
• Botany
• Ecology
• Machine Learning
• Biochemistry
• Computer Science
• Genetics
• Physics
• Geography
• Cell biology
• Neuroscience
• Biophysics

Selected publications

• High-resolution microCT reveals relationships between stomata and interior leaf anatomy in Sorghum

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-12-09

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Stomata are pores in the leaf epidermis that regulate the trade-off between CO 2 uptake for photosynthesis and water vapor loss to the atmosphere. Stomatal patterning therefore influences water use efficiency and is a target for engineering to avoid drought stress. However, there is limited understanding of how internal leaf anatomy is coordinated with stomatal development, in part due to the technical challenges of assessing three-dimensional anatomy with sufficient resolution. C4 grasses are understudied, and this is a significant knowledge gap given their file-like stomatal distribution and unique mesophyll organization. In this study, wild-type sorghum and a low-stomatal density transgenic line expressing a synthetic Epidermal Patterning Factor (EPF syn ) were studied. High-resolution microCT was paired with machine learning to characterize three-dimensional traits of mesophyll, epidermis, and airspace, which together determine g ias . Sorghum internal leaf airspace is an arrangement of large sub-stomatal airspaces with thin air passageways. Adaxial and abaxial surfaces differed in stomatal patterning relative to mesophyll structures, sub-stomatal crypts and airspace CO 2 conductance (g ias ). Surprisingly, adaxial stomata were consistently located above rather than between vascular bundles. Unexpectedly, g ias was not significantly different in wild-type versus EPF syn . EPF syn plants had larger crypts and shifts in internal leaf anatomy, indicating a potential compensation mechanism for predicted impacts of reduced stomatal density on g ias . These findings provide a new understanding of the interplay between leaf surface specific anatomy and internal structural patterning of the mesophyll in a C4 species, and provides knowledge relevant to engineering water use efficiency in crop species.

  PublisherDOI

• Ice and air: Visualisation of freeze-thaw embolism and freezing spread in young L. tulipifera leaves 

  2025-03-14

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Spring freezing is an unforgiving stress for young leaves, often leading to death, with consequences for tree productivity and survival. With an increasingly unpredictable climate leading to more spring freezing events, it is important the we understand how freezing damages young leaf tissue. While both the plant water transport system and living tissues are vulnerable to freezing, we do not know whether damage to one or both of these systems causes death in young leaves exposed to freezing and thawing. Whole saplings of Liriodendron tulipifera were exposed to freezing and thawing trajectories designed to mimic natural spring freezes. We visualised freezing damage to the water transport system (xylem embolism) and living tissues (mesophyll freezing, decline in chlorophyll fluorescence). We 1.) provide the first visualisation of freeze-thaw embolism in leaves and compare this to drought-embolism, 2.) reveal a predictable progression of ice formation within the mesophyll which is strongly influenced by leaf vein architecture, notably the presence or absence of bundle-sheath extensions, and 3.) show that freeze-thaw embolism occurs only in the largest vein orders where mean vessel diameter exceeds 30µm. With evidence of both freeze-thaw embolism and damage to photosynthetic tissue, we conclude that this dual-mode lethality may be common among other wide-vesseled angiosperm-leaves, potentially playing a role in limiting tree distributions, and show that bundle-sheath extensions may stall or even prevent freezing spread.

  PublisherDOI

• Tree microbiomes and methane exchange in upland forests

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-09-30 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Summary Rationale Upland forest trees emit CH , but whether emissions derive from internal microbial production or soil-derived transport remains debated. Methanogens have been detected in heartwood of several species, yet the prevalence of wood-associated methanogenesis, its metabolic basis, and its relationship to co-occurring methanotrophy are poorly understood. Methods We measured 1,148 stem fluxes and 276 soil fluxes, sampled internal stem gases including δ¹³CH , quantified methanogens and methanotrophs via ddPCR in 564 samples, characterized communities via 16S rRNA sequencing, and upscaled fluxes. Key results Methanogens were detected in 97% of heartwood samples (up to 10 copies g ¹) at concentrations exceeding soil by ∼2 orders of magnitude; methane consumers were likewise near-ubiquitous across forest compartments. Wood harbored distinct microbial communities dominated by hydrogenotrophic Methanobacteriaceae, corroborated by depleted δ¹³CH . Vertical flux profiles indicated soil transport only in wet microsites, with uniform emissions across height consistent with internal production across most upland species. Species-level methanogen:methanotroph ratios predicted emissions (R² = 0.51), indicating net flux reflects the balance between production and oxidation. Main conclusion Methane-cycling microbes are widespread in upland trees, and net methane flux reflects the species-level balance between production and consumption. Internal methanogenesis contributes widely to upland tree emissions; resolving ecosystem-scale magnitude requires improved quantification of woody surface area and vertical flux variability.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• In situ cavitation bubble manometry reveals a lack of light-activated guard cell turgor modulation in bryophytes

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2025-03-26 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Diversification of plant hydraulic architecture and stomatal function coincides with radical changes in the Earth's atmosphere over the past 400 my. Due to shared stomatal anatomy with the earliest land plants, bryophyte stomatal behavior may provide insights into the evolution of stomatal function, but significant uncertainty remains due to technical limitations of measuring guard cell turgor pressure in situ. Here, we introduce a method for monitoring cell turgor pressure by nucleating microbubbles within the guard cells of intact plant tissue and then examining microbubble growth and dissolution dynamics. First, we show that maximum microbubble radius decreases with increasing pressure as the pressure of the surrounding fluid constrains its growth according to a modified version of the Epstein-Plesset equation. We then apply this method to monitor turgor pressure in dark- vs. light-acclimated guard cells across bryophyte taxa with stomata, where their role in gas-exchange remains ambiguous, and in vascular plants with well-documented light-dependent turgor modulation. Our findings show no light-activated change in turgor in bryophyte guard cells, with pressures not significantly different than neighboring epidermal cells. In contrast, vascular plants show distinct pressure modulation in response to light that drives reversible changes in stomatal aperture. Complete guard cell turgor loss had no effect on bryophyte stomatal aperture but resulted in partial or complete closure in vascular plants. These results suggest that despite conserved stomatal morphology, the sampled bryophytes lack dynamic control over guard cell turgor that is critical for sustaining photosynthesis and inhibiting desiccation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Fine Root Shrinkage Across Intact Root Networks Begins Early During Dehydration in Diverse Plants From Conifers to Angiosperms

  Plant Cell & Environment · 2025-10-26 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ABSTRACT Fine roots perform the bulk of plant water and nutrient uptake. During drought, roots shrink dramatically, theoretically decoupling the root vascular system from surrounding soil. The process of root shrinkage relative to hydraulic failure remains poorly understood. We used in situ imaging to measure continuous dehydration of intact bare roots (< 2 mm diameter) over xylem water potential decline until terminal embolism in nine vascular plant species, including a lycophyte, conifers, woody and herbaceous angiosperms, investigating interactions between anatomy and root shrinkage dynamics during decreasing water potential. Across all species, root shrinkage began rapidly, with 39% of relative root shrinkage occurring by the onset of xylem water potential decline (−0.05 MPa), 57.19% by −1.0 MPa, and 83.4% of final shrinkage occurring by water potentials known to cause 50% root network embolism ( P 50 ). Shrinkage patterns and cellular anatomy were highly variable across the root network, reflecting variation in uptake and transport function within fine roots. These data highlight fine root shrinkage as a dynamic, early‐onset component of plant drying that precedes hydraulic failure. Significant variation in shrinkage patterns across root networks relating to age, function and placement may theoretically provide plants with adaptive heterogeneity and facilitate a gradient of dehydration patterns below‐ground.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A diverse and distinct microbiome inside living trees

  Nature · 2025-08-06 · 19 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Ice and air: visualisation of freezing spread and freeze–thaw embolism in young <i>Liriodendron tulipifera</i> leaves

  Journal of Experimental Botany · 2025-06-07

  articleSenior author

  Spring freezing is an unforgiving stress for young leaves, often leading to death and with consequences for tree productivity and survival. While both the water-transport system and living tissues are vulnerable to freezing, we do not currently know whether damage to one or both of these systems causes death in leaves exposed to freezing. In this study, whole saplings of Liriodendron tulipifera were exposed to freezing and thawing trajectories designed to mimic natural spring freezes. We monitored the formation of freeze-thaw xylem embolism and damage to photosynthetic tissues and found a predictable progression of ice formation across the leaf surface that was strongly influenced by leaf- vein architecture, notably the presence or absence of bundle-sheath extensions. Our results also showed that freeze-thaw embolism occurred only in the lowest vein orders where mean vessel diameter exceeded 30 µm. With evidence of both freeze-thaw embolism and damage to photosynthetic tissue, we conclude that this dual-mode of lethality in leaves might be common among other wide-vesseled angiosperm leaves, potentially playing a role in limiting geographic distributions, and demonstrate that bundle sheath extensions might stall or even prevent freezing spread.

  PublisherDOI

• A diverse and distinct microbiome inside living trees

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-06-02 · 5 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Despite significant advances in microbiome research across various environments 1 , the microbiome of Earth’s largest biomass reservoir– the wood of living trees 2 – remains largely unexplored. This oversight neglects a critical aspect of global biodiversity and potentially key players in tree health and forest ecosystem functions. Here we illuminate the microbiome inhabiting and adapted to wood, and further specialized to individual host species. We demonstrate that a single tree can host approximately a trillion microbes in its aboveground internal tissues, with microbial communities partitioned between heartwood and sapwood, each maintaining a distinct microbiome with minimal similarity to other plant tissues or nearby ecosystem components. Notably, the heartwood microbiome emerges as a unique ecological niche, distinguished in part by endemic archaea and anaerobic bacteria that drive consequential biogeochemical processes. Our research supports the emerging idea of a plant as a “holobiont” 3,4 —a single ecological unit comprising host and associated microorganisms—and parallels human microbiome research in its implications for host health, disease, and functionality 5 . By mapping the structure, composition, and potential sources and functions of the tree internal microbiome, our findings pave the way for novel insights into tree physiology and forest ecology, and establish a new frontier in environmental microbiology.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ice and air: Visualisation of freeze-thaw embolism and freezing spread in young <i>L. tulipifera</i> leaves

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-10-29

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Spring freezing is an unforgiving stress for young leaves, often leading to death, with consequences for tree productivity and survival. While both the plant water transport system and living tissues are vulnerable to freezing, we do not know whether damage to one or both of these systems causes death in leaves exposed to freezing. Whole saplings of Liriodendron tulipifera were exposed to freezing and thawing trajectories designed to mimic natural spring freezes. We monitored the formation of freeze-thaw xylem embolism and damage to photosynthetic tissues to reveal a predictable progression of ice formation across the leaf surface that is strongly influenced by leaf vein architecture, notably the presence or absence of bundle sheath extensions. Our data also show that freeze-thaw embolism occurs only in the largest vein orders where mean vessel diameter exceeds 30µm. With evidence of both freeze-thaw embolism and damage to photosynthetic tissue, we conclude that this dual-mode lethality may be common among other wide-vesseled angiosperm-leaves, potentially playing a role in limiting geographic distributions, and show that bundle sheath extensions may stall or even prevent freezing spread. Highlight Both ice and air lead likely lead to death in young L.tulipfera leaves exposed to freezing, with the spread of both governed by physical characteristics of these leaves.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Street tree communities reflect socioeconomic inequalities and legacy effects of colonial planning in Nairobi, Kenya

  Urban forestry & urban greening · 2024-10-01 · 5 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Conifer leaf anatomy determines hydraulic functioning

  NSF · $407k · 2017–2020

• Collaborative Research: Structure and Function of Whole-tree 3D Xylem Networks in Response to Past, Present, and Future Drought

  NSF · $464k · 2016–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Andrew J. McElrone

  University of California, Davis

  111 shared

• Adam B. Roddy

  Florida International University

  33 shared

• Brendan Choat

  Western Sydney University

  27 shared

• Guillaume Théroux‐Rancourt

  Biopterre

  23 shared

• J. Mason Earles

  23 shared

• Mark A. Matthews

  University of California, Davis

  17 shared

• Santiago Trueba

  Centre d'Études Scientifiques et Techniques d'Aquitaine

  16 shared

• Kenneth A. Shackel

  15 shared

Awards & honors

• Craig Brodersen Named the Newman Professor of Plant Physiolo…