Umer Mahmood

I am interested in how grain legumes develop and adapt to their environments, and how this knowledge can support more resilient and productive cropping systems.
At SLU, I work with faba bean, exploring how molecular and genetic variation shapes key developmental traits in this crop.

My research focuses on flowering time, earliness, and plant architecture in faba bean (Vicia faba), to understand how these traits are controlled at the molecular and genetic levels. I use RNA‑seq–based transcriptomics, gene expression profiling, and functional genomics to identify and characterize key regulatory genes and networks that govern floral induction, determinacy, and growth habit.

I am particularly interested in how regulatory variation contributes to adaptation of faba bean to high‑latitude environments and how these insights can be used in pre‑breeding to improve yield stability, synchronization, and suitability for different cropping systems. My broader background includes work on transcriptional regulatory networks, pod shattering, and plant architecture in Brassica napus, as well as multi‑omics and abiotic stress responses in crops, which supports a comparative and evolutionary perspective in my current legume research.