Our Lab uses genetic, metabolic engineering, metabolomics, genomics and bioinformatics tools to study the operation of amino acid metabolism in plants within the context of the entire system including transcriptional, metabolic and physiological networks. We show that besides the importance of lysine metabolism in protein synthesis, under stress conditions, lysine metabolism also cross interacts with stress-associated gene expression and also with metabolic programs associated with cellular energy. In addition, we also use metabolic engineering approach, employing bacterial genes, to study the regulation of conversion of primary metabolism into the synthesis of aromatic amino acids and the thousands of secondary metabolites derived from them in the context of the entire transcriptional and metabolic system.