# ERI: A Systematic Engineering Approach to Understanding How Mechanical Stimuli Shape Plant Growth and Lodging Resistance

> **NSF 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ) · $199,844

## Abstract

This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) award supports a research and education program addressing stalk lodging, which currently reduces global agricultural yields by 5 to 20 percent annually. While animal bones adapt to physical stress through well-understood rules of remodeling, the equivalent process in plants, known as thigmomorphogenesis, remains a significant scientific blind spot. This research leverages five decades of bone adaptation literature to systematically investigate whether plants follow similar threshold and saturation curves in response to mechanical loading. The study specifically investigates four primary rules derived from bone remodeling (load speed, magnitude, dose-dependency, and acclimation) to determine their functional role in plant structural development. By utilizing both monocot (Setaria italica) and dicot (Arabidopsis thaliana) species, the researchers will explore how universal these biomechanical responses are across evolutionarily divergent plant lineages. This systematic approach is designed to transform qualitative observations into a rigorous engineering framework, ultimately providing the data necessary to improve crop resilience against intensifying climate volatility. Utilizing a custom robotic platform, the research will apply precise mechanical "exercise" to plant stems. By integrating high-throughput phenotyping with predictive multi-scale finite element models, the study will specifically isolate how mechanical stimuli structural growth and material properties.

This work aims to advance the fields of biomechanics and mechanobiology by introducing a unified, engineering-driven framework for plant morphogenesis that has historically relied on qualitative observations. By establishing quantitative "rules" for plant adaptation, this research creates mechanistically predictive tools that link environmental stimuli directly to physical phenotypes, a novel approach that bridges the gap between biological signaling and str

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2552632
- **Awardee organization:** Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** KYWWQMMM1PZ4
- **PI:** Christopher J Stubbs
- **Primary program:** 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** BIOMECHANICS, MB-Mechanobiology, UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION, GRADUATE INVOLVEMENT, RESEARCH INITIATION AWARD
- **Estimated total:** $199,844
- **Funds obligated:** $199,844
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 06/01/2026 → 05/31/2028

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2552632

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2552632, ERI: A Systematic Engineering Approach to Understanding How Mechanical Stimuli Shape Plant Growth and Lodging Resistance. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-20 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2552632. Licensed CC0.

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