Climate change models forecast an increasingly hot and dry climate in Africa, with pressure on agriculture and food security. The Chair in Systems Biology Studies on Plant Desiccation Tolerance for Food Security has played a pivotal role in establishing and consolidating a strong scientific foundation in plant stress biology through building institutional expertise in drought tolerance mechanisms and stress resilient crop research. Based in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, the Chair’s research has delivered new insights into the molecular, metabolic and regulatory mechanisms that allow certain plants to survive extreme water loss.

Central to the Chair’s work is the study of resurrection plants, remarkable African species that can survive losing nearly all their water and revive when conditions improve. By unpacking the molecular and metabolic processes that make this possible, the research aims to inform the development of more drought-resilient crops. The Chair has positioned UCT as a leading centre in this field, integrating molecular biology, physiology, biochemistry, microbiome science and biotechnology, with strong capabilities in transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and functional genomics. Key contributions include the identification of novel stress-regulatory pathways, an improved understanding of how plants control senescence, a drought enhanced process leading to cell death, and the integration of plant-microbe interactions into models of stress tolerance. Through this work, the Chair has also cultivated niche expertise in African plant systems, ensuring UCT’s research speaks directly to regional and continental priorities.