Laboratory of Growth Regulators
Palacký University Olomouc Head of Research Program: Martin Fellner
The Group of Molecular Physiology is a part of the Laboratory of Growth Regulators at the Faculty of Sciences, Palacky University, Olomouc. The research program of the group focuses on understanding cross-talk between light and hormonal signaling pathways involved in the growth and development of plants and in plant responses to abiotic stress. The genetic approach involves mutant collections including Arabidopsis, tomato and maize. One of the experimental systems is the mutant 7B-1 in tomato which is resistant to abiotic stress specifically under blue light. For this reason, 7B-1 is an excellent plant model for studying the effect of light on the ability of plants to tolerate abiotic stress and it enables us to uncover new elements implicated in light and stress signaling pathways. Another aspect of the research program is study of the role of maize auxin-binding proteins (ABP1 and ABP4) in growth and development and in the process of photomorphogenesis. The group has also developed a project on the study of processes in which interactions between boron, auxin and light are involved in the control of elongation growth in Arabidopsis. In their work, the group of Martin Fellner uses a number of physiological, genetic and molecular methods, and new approaches, such as Next generation sequencing. The group fully collaborates with other teams of the Laboratory of Growth Regulators.