Research Programmes

• Advanced Nanotechnologies and Microtechnologies
  • Functional Properties of Nanostructures
  • Submicron Systems and Nanodevices
  • Experimental Biophotonics
  • Fabrication and Characterisation of Nanostructures
  • Development of Methods for Analysis and Measuring
  • X-ray Micro CT and Nano CT
  • Optoelectronic Characterisation of Nanostructures
  • Micro and Nanotribology
  • Plasma Technologies
  • Synthesis and Analysis of Nanostructures
  • Transport and Magnetic Properties
• Advanced Materials
  • Advanced Ceramic Materials
  • Materials for Sensors and Technological Processes Control Systems
  • Advanced Polymers and Composites
  • Advanced Metallic Materials and Metal Based Composites
  • Structure and Phase Analysis
• Structural Biology
  • Bioinformatics
  • CD Spectroscopy of Nucleic Acids and Proteins
  • CryoEM
  • Glycobiochemistry
  • RNA Quality Control
  • Nanobiotechnology
  • Biomolecular NMR Spectroscopy
  • NMR Spectroscopy II
  • NMR Spectroscopy III
  • Protein/RNA Interactions
  • X-ray Crystallography I
  • X-ray Crystallography II
  • Structure and Dynamics of Nucleic Acids
  • Structure and Interaction of Biomolecules at Surfaces
  • Computational Chemistry
• Genomics and Proteomics of Plant Systems
  • Bioanalytical Instrumentation
  • Plant Cytogenomics
  • Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Plants
  • Hormonal Crosstalk in Plant Development
  • Metabolomics
  • Core Facility – Proteomics
  • Developmental and Cell Biology of Plants
  • Chromatin Molecular Complexes
  • Developmental and Production Biology – Omics Approaches
• Molecular Medicine
  • Medical Genomics
  • Molecular Oncology I – Hematooncology
  • Molecular Oncology II – Solid Cancer
  • Inherited Diseases I – Genetic Research
  • Inherited Diseases II – Transcriptional Regulation
  • Molecular Immunology and Microbiology
  • Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology
  • Genome Dynamics
  • Core Facility – Genomics
  • Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics
• Brain and Mind Research
  • Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
  • Molecular and Functional Neuroimaging
  • Experimental and Applied Neuropsychopharmacology
  • Psychophysiology
  • Behavioural and Social Neuroscience
  • Applied Neuroscience
• Molecular Veterinary Medicine
  • Molecular Virology
  • Molecular Bacteriology
  • Parasitology
  • Food Safety
  • Orthopaedics and Surgery
  • Animal Imunogenomics
  • Animal Cytogenomics
  • Mammalian Reproduction

Developmental and Production Biology – Omics Approaches

Prof. RNDr. Břetislav Brzobohatý, CSc.
Research Group Leader

THEMATIC RESEARCH FOCUS

RESEARCH AREAS

• Molecular mechanisms underlying:

1. hormonal regulation of plant development
2. plant adaptation to abiotic and biotic cues

• Molecular markers related to economically important traits

MAIN OBJECTIVES

Determination of molecular mechanisms governing hormonal regulations and their functions in plant development and stress-response. Developmental outputs of cell polarity will be established.

CONTENT OF RESEARCH

Hormonal control of plant growth correlations and responses to environmental cues

Throughout their life cycle, plants as sessile organisms depend critically on sensing a number of external and internal signals that they use to alter their physiology, morphology and development. Plant hormones, mainly auxin and cytokinin, have been recognised as key players in the control of plant growth correlations, and an increasing body of evidence implicates their involvement in the responses to environmental cues. We will investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the hormonal modulation of the plant body architecture, mainly shoot and root branching, under various environmental cues including nutrient and/or water deficiency. Our pilot experiments indicate that alterations in the hormone level or signalling can compensate for the undesirable effects of the environmental cues on plant growth and morphogenesis. We will develop and employ reverse genetic tools to get a deeper understanding of the particular roles of a number of candidate genes implicated in the compensation responses. In addition, green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions will be used to monitor promoter activities and protein products of genes reportedly involved in branching, for example genes involved in the maintenance and differentiation of the axillary meristems and auxin transport. Based on the knowledge gained in the project we will evaluate the possibilities of crop engineering for better performance under limited nutrient and water availability.

Much progress has been made recently in our understanding of cytokinin biosynthesis and signaling, and how environmental cues interact with these components to modulate plant growth, development and physiology. Cytokinin probably plays a role in the response to many environmental signals. Physiological studies have correlated the changes in cytokinin levels in response to environmental cues. Genome-wide microarray studies reveal overlapping transcriptional responses between cytokinin and various environmental inputs. The components of the cytokinin biosynthetic and signaling pathway are, in turn, transcriptionally altered by environmental stimuli. While many of the links of cytokinin to various environmental stimuli have been simply correlative, recent studies using mutants that alter cytokinin biosynthesis or signalling have begun to demonstrate an important role for cytokinins in these responses. However, because of the wide range of outputs of the cytokinin signalling pathway, dissecting the role of cytokinin in the response to a particular stress remains challenging. We will employ a number of tools now available to alter cytokinin levels and responsiveness in combination with non targeted transcriptomic and proteomic analyses to deepen our knowledge of this subject. The investigation of structure-function relationships in proteins involved in these interactions will provide us with knowledge of their mechanisms of action at the molecular level. We will focus on the interactions of cytokinin and the light, temperature and drought response pathways. We will also examine the effects of altered cytokinin levels and signalling on the accumulation of and tolerance to heavy metals. Attention will be paid to cytokinin interactions with other hormones in these processes. As we further deepen our understanding of the circuitry underlying the input of cytokinin into the response of the environmental signals, we should be able to engineer these pathways to produce plants with increased tolerance to abiotic stresses.

KEY RESEARCH EQUIPMENT

PLANNED RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

Technology Units

Developmental and production biology

CURRENT RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

The current research infrastructure of the group includes plant cultivation facilities, microscopy, molecular biology and biochemistry equipment.

MAIN PROJECTS

• Proteome dynamics in response to increased cytokinin levels in Arabidopsis (IAA600040701), Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2007-2010, B. Brzobohatý, Mendel University in Brno, J. Bobálová, Institute of Analytical Chemistry AS CR, P. Bouchal, Masaryk University.
• The role of cytokinins and polyamines in heat stress response and thermotolerance in tobacco and Arabidopsis plants (GA206/09/2062), Czech Science Foundation, 2009-2013, R. Vanková, Institute of Experimental Botany AS CR, B. Brzobohatý, Mendel University in Brno.
• Application of conventional and molecular genetic approaches for the development of grain legumes resistant to viral and fungal pathogens and insect pests (QI91A229), National Agency for Agriculture Research, 2009-2013, M. Griga, Agritec Plant Research Ltd., D. Kodrík, Biology Centre AS CR, M. Navrátil, Palacký University Olomouc, V. Reinöhl, Mendel University in Brno.
• Functional genomics and proteomics for crop improvement (1M06030), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, 2006-2011, B. Brzobohatý, Mendel University in Brno.
• Regulation of morphogenesis of plant cells and organs (LC06034), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, 2006-2011, E. Zažímalová, Institute of Experimental Botany AS CR, I. Kašík, Institute of Photonics and Electronics, Z. Opatrný, Charles University in Prague, J. Hejátko, Masaryk University, Z. Novotná, University of Chemical Technology in Prague, B. Brzobohatý, Mendel University in Brno.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• BALLA, J., KALOUSEK, P., REINOHL, V., FRIML, J., PROCHAZKA, S. Competitive canalization of PIN-dependent auxin flow from axillary buds controls pea bud outgrowth. Plant Journal. 2011, 65(4), p. 571-577.
• CERNY, M., DYCKA, F., BOBALOVA, J., BRZOBOHATY, B. Early cytokinin response proteins and phosphoproteins of Arabidopsis thaliana identified by proteome and phosphoproteome profiling. Journal of Experimental Botany. 2011, 62(3), p. 921-937.
• HEJATKO, J., RYU, H., KIM, G.-T., DOBESOVA, R., CHOI, S., CHOI, S., M., SOUCEK, P., HORAK, J., PEKAROVA, B., PALME, K., BRZOBOHATY, B., HWANG, I. The histidine kinases CYTOKININ-INDEPENDENT1 and ARABIDOPSIS HISTIDINE KINASE2 and 3 regulate vascular tissue development in Arabidopsis shoot. Plant Cell. 2009, 21, p. 2008-2021.
• LOCHMANOVA, G., ZDRAHAL, Z., KONECNA, H., KOUKALOVA, S., MALBECK, J., SOUCEK, P., VALKOVA, M., KIRAN, N., S., BRZOBOHATY, B. Cytokinin-induced photomorphogenesis in dark-grown Arabidopsis: a proteomic analysis. Journal of Experimental Botany. 2008, 59, p. 3705-3719.
• SAUER, M., BALLA, J., LUSCHNIG, C., WISNIEWSKA, J., REINOHL, V., FRIML, J., BENKOVA, E. Canalization of auxin fl ow by Aux/IAA-ARFdependent feedback regulation of PIN polarity. Genes and Development. 2006, 20, p. 2902-2911.