My current research mainly focuses on the role of sugar signalling in plant development (in particular leaf development and senescence) and in the perception of environmental signals. For example, my group exploits natural genetic variation to investigate the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms that regulate leaf senescence. In particular, we investigate how sugar signalling integrates environmental signals, such as nitrogen and carbon supply, light intensity, daylength and temperature. In addition to hexoses, trehalose-6-phosphate has emerged as an important sugar signal in plants and we investigate the mechanisms by which trehalose-6-phosphate signals the availability of carbon. Most of this research is conducted with the model species Arabidopsis, but we also use a perennial relative of Arabidopsis, Arabis alpina, to explore how senescence is regulated by environmental conditions in perennial plants.