Developmental and Cell Biology of Plants – Tomasz Nodzynski

Plants as sessile organisms must adapt to ever changing environmental conditions. The adaptations to environmental cues are essential for plant survival and consequently for crop productivity. The adaptation processes rely on sensing and transduction of environmental signals, integration of various forms of signals and determination of the final response. Plant hormones are implicated in various aspects of regulation of plant development, growth and responses to environmental cues. Our work is focused on systematic analysis of environmental and hormonal signalling in regulating plant growth and development, as well as adaptation to environmental cues.

We focus on how different environmental and endogenous signals are integrated into the subcellular dynamics coordinating vesicular trafficking and polar localisation the PIN auxin efflux carriers as one of the aspects of subcellular routing. From our investigations, we expect to gain a deeper knowledge on plasticity of plant responses to environmental cues.

1.     Biochemical characterization of PIN auxin transport complex

Insight into the plasma membrane topology of PINs.

Insight into structure-function relationships of PIN structural domains.

2.     Regulation subcellular dynamics:

Identification of molecular players regulating vesicular transport in plants also upon stress.

Insights into how gravity and light perception is initiated into regulation of subcellular dynamics and how plants process those bits of information to subsequently modify their development.

3.     Insights into strigolactone signalling and its impact on root development:

Biochemical studies of strigolactone signalling.

Genetic studies to elucidate the molecular mechanism of action of the strigolactones in the root.