Plant Genetics

Research in the Laboratory of Plant Genetics concerns basic plant molecular genetics as well as applied research relevant to the plant biotechnology and agricultural sector. The research is focused on the following themes: · DNA repair and recombination mechanisms and methods to influence these processes. This may lead to development of improved plant breeding techniques, improved plant transformation technology and new techniques for functional analysis of genes. · Amino acid metabolism in plants and its regulation. Knowledge in this field is applied in new strategies to enhance the content of essential amino acids in food and feed crops and thus to enhance the nutritional value of these crops. · Adaptation mechanisms of plants to biotic and abiotic stress, with the long-term objective to create plant varieties with enhanced tolerance to these stress factors. · Molecular farming: the production of valuable proteins, including vaccines, in plant seeds. For our fundamental research we make use of model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, Medicago truncatula and Nicotiana spp. whereas applied research concerns important crops including rice, sorghum, potato, bean and pigeonpea.