Juan Alonso-Serra started his research group at Umeå Plant Science Centre in early 2026. Photo: Malin Grönborg
Water moves through every growing plant, changing the pressure inside cells. Juan Alonso-Serra, a new group leader at Umeå Plant Science Centre, wants to understand how plants sense these changes and turn them into molecular signals that guide growth.
Plants constantly change shape. Cells expand, tissues reorganise and new organs emerge. Behind these visible changes lies a simple physical process: as water moves, it creates shifts in pressure that help cells expand and tissues grow. Juan wants to investigate how plants interpret these forces.
“Since my PhD, I have been intrigued by how something purely physical - like tissue deformation in plants during development or stress - is translated into instructive molecular cues,” he says.
Scientists already know a great deal about the genes that regulate plant development and the physical forces that shape growing tissues. What remains less clear is how plants connect these processes. During his postdoctoral research, Juan became increasingly convinced that water might provide an important link.
“Water is involved in every aspect of plant development,” he says. “During my postdoc, I started to see that water fluctuations and water-related signalling could be a strong causal link.”
Learning resilience from plants
Today, that idea forms the basis of his research. In his group, Juan explores how cells detect shifts in water status and translate them into biological responses. Rather than reacting passively, plants appear to actively interpret fluctuations in their internal water status.
A key focus of this work is the meristem - the plant’s growth zone. These specialised tissues produce new organs throughout a plant’s life: leaves, stems, flowers and wood all originate here.
“On one hand, meristems are the source of all plant tissues. On the other hand, they grow very slowly. Stem cells divide at a relatively low rate, yet the entire plant originates from them,” he says.
This balance between growth and restraint is what makes meristems so interesting to him. Stem cells divide sparingly, preserving their identity over long periods. At the same time, many signalling pathways typically associated with stress are active in these tissues even under normal conditions.
Juan suggests that this stress-like state may help plants maintain developmental stability, keeping stem cells robust and ready to respond when conditions change. Thinking about how plants manage this balance has also shaped how he views plants more broadly.
“In a way, studying the link between water and growth is just an excuse to interrogate plants,” he says.
Plants have adapted to life rooted in one place for hundreds of millions of years, continuously dealing with changing environments and limited resources. For Juan, that makes them powerful models for resilience.
“As humans, often obsessed with growth, we have a lot to learn from plants,” Juan says. “We too are ultimately rooted to one planet with finite resources. In the words of Robin Wall Kimmerer, we try to see plants not merely as natural resources, but as teachers.”
Following water movements in the stem
These questions naturally lead Juan to trees. Partly, he admits, this is a personal fascination. But trees also provide a unique opportunity to study how water influences growth over long timescales - across seasons and even years.
At the centre of this work is the cambium, a thin layer of tissue beneath the bark that produces wood. Extending throughout the trunk and branches, it is the largest meristem in a tree.
For Juan Alonso-Serra, trees offer a way to study how water movement and growth are connected over time. Photo: Malin Grönborg
“What makes it especially interesting is that it both depends on water and shapes how water is transported, because it produces the pipes that conduct water,” he says.
Because the cambium is hidden beneath the bark, it is difficult to observe directly. To study it, Juan’s group combines molecular approaches, imaging techniques and physiological measurements. One method involves tracking how tree stems expand and contract as water moves through them.
“Trees actually swell during the night and shrink during the day as water evaporates from their leaves,” Juan says. “It’s almost like the trunk has a heartbeat.”
This daily rhythm reveals how closely linked water movement and growth really are. Making sense of it requires bringing together multiple perspectives - from plant development and physiology to tree biology.
Building connections and a creative environment
The collaborative environment at UPSC, known for its strong focus on tree research, was one of the reasons Juan chose to move to Umeå.
“During my PhD, I visited UPSC and was very impressed by the possibilities,” he says. “The combination of different perspectives in plant science and the strong focus on trees make it a perfect place for my group.”
His work adds a complementary perspective, connecting development, water relations and environmental responses. At the same time, he continues to lead a research team at the University of Helsinki. He sees the move not only as a relocation but as an expansion of his scientific and personal networks.
“I see this transition more as building a bridge,” he says. “Extending my home and my networks across places and ultimately creating a broader scientific and personal community.”
That idea of connection also shapes how he thinks about leadership.
“I want to create an environment that nurtures motivation and creativity,” he says. “Being in my group is just a phase in someone’s career. Their career development is as important as the group's scientific output.”
For Juan, leading his own group creates the space to connect questions he has been developing for a long time.
“What excites me most is connecting different scales and perspectives,” he says, “and hopefully addressing some fundamental questions about how plants grow and function.”
He defines scientific success not through single breakthroughs, but through persistence and continuity.
“For me, success is staying in the game,” he says. “It is about continuing to do meaningful work, collaborate, and build a coherent story over time.”
Juan Alonso-Serra started his research group at Umeå Plant Science Centre in early 2026. He is also an Academy Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki. After completing his PhD in Plant Biology at the University of Helsinki, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at ENS de Lyon and later at the University of Helsinki, focusing on hydraulic control of plant growth and development. His research explores how water movement, mechanical forces and molecular signalling shape plant growth, especially in meristems and trees.
For more information, please contact:
Juan Alonso-Serra
Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC)
Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Email:
https://www.upsc.se/juan_alonso_serra