Projects
Integration of Plant Organellar Communication Under Environmental Stress Ghent University
Environmental challenges such as drought and intense sunlight negatively affect plant growth, which can decrease agricultural production and cost the European economy billions of euros. Therefore it is important to understand how plants cope with drought stress. Researchers have found that different parts of the plant cell can respond to environmental stress using different molecular signals that collectively affect behavior of the plant. ...
Unravelling the molecular function of the Arabidopsis thaliana LSU peptide family in the plant stress response using an interactomics-based approach. KU Leuven
Plants defend themselves against pathogens and abiotic stresses using a wide arsenal of defence mechanisms. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has four members of the LSU (Low Sulfur Upregulated) gene family (LSU1-4) encoding small proteins with 59-89% sequence similarity and homologues in several other plants and major crops.
Originally, the LSU peptides were characterized as induced during sulfur deficiencies, but ...
Development of a rapid multiplex detection method for analysing plant stress hormones ACC and ABA using a fiber-optic SPR biosensor KU Leuven
Plant hormones play a crucial role in steering developmental processes and controlling responses towards (a)biotic stressors. For example, drought, salinity, and flooding stress evoke ethylene (by its precursor ACC) and abscisic acid (ABA) root-to-shoot signalling via the xylem to activate survival responses of the shoot. Especially with the advent of climate change, early stress detection is critical to prevent agricultural losses and breed ...
A novel approach to probe crosstalk between plant stress response pathways under field conditions Ghent University
In the face of world population growth and climatic change, global food security will increasingly depend on our ability to design crops with higher yield and higher tolerance to stress. Unraveling the wiring of plant stress response pathways traditionally involves controlled experimental perturbations that are often rather harsh and unrealistic from a field perspective. Moreover, only a single pathway is usually perturbed, impeding the ...
Mitochondria-to-nucleus communication in plant stress responses: looking for the missing elements Ghent University
Plant growth and development are widely influenced by environmental stresses. Mitochondria are important sensors of stress conditions and can relay this information to the nucleus to activate stress responsive genes or redirect growth. This PhD project aims to elucidate the complex signaling networks of mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde signaling mediated by NAC transcription factors using interactomics approaches.
Validation of a plant movement sensor as a novel stress diagnostic tool for smart farming applications in horticulture KU Leuven
EncRNA: Evaluation of exogenous RNA as non-GMO based strategy to improve plant stress resilience Ghent University
This project aims to investigate the target and non-target effects of exogenously applied long noncoding RNAs (encRNAs) on rice plants. Several long ncRNAs have been selected and uptake of these RNAs in rice is predicted to enhance stress resilience in plants. We will focus on salt and drought stress as abiotic stresses, and defense against nematodes as biotic stress. The off-target effects through various epigenetic mechanisms will also be ...
Application of exogenous dsRNA to boost plant tolerance to abiotic stress Ghent University
Induction of RNA interference enables to downregulate the expression of particular genes to boost abiotic stress tolerance. In this proposal we will investigate how dsRNA delivery in plant cells and plant tissues can be optimized using protein and peptide carriers coupled to dsRNA. Furthermore we will study in detail the uptake of dsRNA, its fate in the plant cell or tissue, and optimize the conditions for targeting of gene down-regulation, ...
Pre-allocated professorship in Plant Stress Physiology in Cereal Crops Ghent University
To survive in hostile environments, plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to protect themselves against abiotic en biotic stress factors. Plant stress tolerance has been positively selected during evolution as it alows a population to better adapt to changing environmental conditions. From an agricultural point of view, cultivars with enhanced stress tolerance, without compromising yield, are the most durable option to suply food to ...