Selection optimizes plant form and function — but at a cost. We study how natural and artificial selection reshapes plant physiology, and what trade-offs emerge in stress tolerance, water dynamics, nutrient use, and lifespan across our model systems.
Our research Get in touchResearch & Team
Our research program investigates the physiological trade-offs associated with natural and artificial selection. While both types of selection aim to optimize ecological and/or morphological characteristics of plants, corresponding physiological changes will likely occur in order to support these characteristics — but this could also lead to trade-offs in stress tolerance, water dynamics, nutrient use, or lifespan. We seek to unravel these relationships across four main plant systems.
Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream), Department of Biological Sciences, UTSC. Jason leads the Brown Greenhouse Lab and oversees all research programs.
Dr. Brown is not just the principal investigator but also the principal pot scrubber.
How do life history, oil vs. fibre selection, and flowering time interact to shape water dynamics and drought tolerance? Selection history in flax may carry significant physiological costs.
Mannat Bagga
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Trisha Kainth
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Can early-flowering flax lines be induced to flower even earlier under conditions that favour early flowering, such as the application of gibberellic acid and other known flowering-time accelerants? This project probes how far flowering time can be pushed within an already early-flowering selection line.
Saumya Sirohi
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Do the same life-history and selection factors that influence water use also shape fertilizer requirements in flax? This project examines nutrient physiology through the lens of breeding history.
How do the secondary effects of wildfire smoke affect nutrient content across different B. oleracea cultivars? An increasingly urgent question as wildfire frequency rises globally.
Maeya Zheng
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Mason Buller
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Is there meaningful variation in salt tolerance among the seven cultivated forms of B. oleracea? Understanding this variation has implications for both crop resilience and selection-driven physiology.
Nadia Tasnim
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How do storage time and storage conditions affect chlorophyll and salicylic acid levels in leaves after removal from evergreen and deciduous perennials? This project tracks post-harvest pigment and stress-hormone degradation across a range of storage scenarios.
Syeda Munawara
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How does exogenous oxidative stress mitigate competition between evergreen and deciduous perennials? This project explores stress physiology as a mediator of plant community dynamics and competitive outcomes.
Lilyan Alassaf
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Does wind exposure lead to changes in leaf transpiration rate in Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)? This project examines how a mechanical stressor shapes water-loss physiology in a widespread native perennial.
Omar Ali
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Publications
Click any paper to access it via DOI.
Arthropod-Plant Interactions · 20(2): 30
PerennialsGall Physiology 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s11829-026-10239-4Biological Journal of the Linnean Society · 144(1): blae102
PerennialsOxidative StressAntioxidants 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blae102Plant Growth Regulation · 104(2): 925–937
FlaxOxidative StressFlowering Time 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s10725-024-01209-yOil Crop Science
FlaxChlorophyllAnnual vs. Perennial 🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.ocsci.2024.04.001Biologia · 77: 2063–2080
PerennialsOxidative StressAnnual vs. Perennial 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s11756-022-01055-1In Memoriam
[Birth year] — [Death year]
Dr. Mary Ann Fieldes was a Professor in the Biology Department at Wilfrid Laurier University. She warmly welcomed a young student — who would go on to become Dr. Brown — into her laboratory in the summer of 2003. He would remain in her laboratory under her supervision for the next two years. Dr. Fieldes was a knowledgeable and caring mentor. Indeed, none of the work that happens in the Brown Greenhouse Lab would take place had it not been for her ability to nurture the enthusiasm of a young scientist-to-be.
The Brown Greenhouse Lab dedicates its work to the memory of Dr. Fieldes.
Contact
Interested in joining the lab, collaborating, or learning more about our work? Reach out to Dr. Jason Brown directly by email.
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4