 |
|
|
Eugenia Russinova
Brassinosteroids
VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, UGent
|
PhD: Norman Borlang Inst., De Montfort Univ., Leicester, UK, '96
Postdoc: Norman Borlang Inst., UK, '97-'98;
Postdoc: Wageningen Univ., Wageningen, The Netherlands, '98-'05
Principal Investigator VIB since 2006 |
e-mail
phone +32 9 331 39 31
ADDRESS |
Current team members
Group leader: Jenny Russinova
Postdoctoral scientists: Anna Maria Szatmari, Camilla Betti, Daniël Van Damme, Gustavo Gudesblat, Miroslava Zhiponova, Niloufer Irani
Ph.D. Students: Corina Codreanu, Joanna Pizon, Simone Di Rubbo
Support personnel: Evelien Mylle, Isabelle Vanhoutte
Keywords
brassinosteroids - cell division - cell expansion - BRI1 - endocytosis
Science
Brassinosteroids (BRs) are steroidal plant hormones that promote growth when exogenously applied to various plant tissues. BR-deficient mutants display severe dwarfism. It is generally accepted that the growth-promoting effects of BRs result primarily from stimulation of cell expansion. Microarray expression data showed that BRs up-regulate genes involved in cell wall elongation and the cytoskeleton but down-regulate cell division genes. The effect of BRs on cell division is less clearly documented in comparison to its effect on cell expansion. Restoration of leaf size in some BR biosynthetic mutants after application of BRs can only be partially attributed to cell expansion. Several independent experiments strongly suggest that BRs affect cell proliferation by directly influencing the expression of the cell cycle genes. BRs promote cell proliferation in tobacco BY-2 cells and induce transcription of CYCD3;1 in Arabidopsis. The expression of the CDKB1;1 in Arabidopsis hypocotyls is upregulated by BRs in the dark but is unaffected in the light. Those data imply a role of BRs in either preventing premature exit from the cell division program or promoting differentiation. Endoreduplication plays an important role for initiation of cell differentiation. It was demonstrated that loss of mitotic activity coincides with endocycle initiation and endoreduplication can be initiated through modifications of the exit of the mitotic cell cycle. The goal of the research is to understand the link between BRs, cell proliferation, expansion and endoreduplication.
In Arabidopsis BR are perceived by a receptor complex including the plasma membrane localized receptor kinases BRI1, SERK3 and SERK1. Loss of function bri1, serk3 and serk1 alleles result in growth reduction. Thus, changes in BR perception directly affect organ growth.
Recent advances in animal cell signaling research showed that the subcellular localization and trafficking of the signaling complexes determine the specificity and the efficiency of signaling. Despite progress in identifying different components of BR signaling, very little is known about their subcellular compartmentalization and trafficking and their relevance for BRs physiological responses such as growth stimulation.
Tools of molecular cell biology will be used to investigate the subcellular localization, mobility, transport routes and binding interactions of a BR receptor complex during cell division and elongation. This will serve as a support for the hypothesis that the BR receptor complex initiates cell expansion and endoreduplication by modulating the sensitivity to BRs during the cell cycle.
The current research is in a close collaboration with Prof. Danny Geelen.
Selected Publications
De Rybel B, Audenaert D, Vert G, Rozhon W, Mayerhofer J, Peelman F, Coutuer S, Denayer T, Jansen L, Nguyen L, Vanhoutte I, Beemster G, Vleminckx K, Jonak C, Chory J, Inzé D, Russinova E, Beeckman T
Chemical inhibition of a subset of Arabidopsis thaliana GSK3-like kinases activates brassinosteroid signaling
CHEM BIOL 16, 594-604, 2009
Irani N, Russinova E
Receptor endocytosis and signaling in plants
CURR OPIN PLANT BIOL 12, 653-9, 2009
Van Damme D, Inzé D, Russinova E
Vesicle Trafficking during Somatic Cytokinesis
PLANT PHYSIOL 147, 1544-52, 2008
Albrecht C, Russinova E, Kemmerling B, Kwaaitaal M, de Vries S
Arabidopsis SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR KINASE proteins serve brassinosteroid-dependent and -independent signaling pathways
PLANT PHYSIOL 148, 611-9, 2008
Karlova R, Boeren S, Russinova E, Aker J, Vervoort J, de Vries S
The Arabidopsis SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE1 protein complex includes BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE1
PLANT CELL 18, 626-38, 2006
Search Publications
|
|