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Eva Benková
Hormonal cross-talk in plant organogenesis
VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, UGent
PhD: Inst. of Biophysics, Acad. of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republik, '98
Postdoc: MPI for Plant Breeding, Cologne, Germany, '98-'01
Postdoc: ZMBP, Univ. of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, '01-'03
Independent Research Associate: Univ. of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, '03-'07
VIB Group leader since 2007
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e-mail
phone +32 09 331 39 02
ADDRESS
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Current team members
Group leader: Eva Benková
Postdoctoral scientists: Candela Cuesta Moliner, Jérôme Duclercq, Marleen Vanstraelen
Ph.D. Students: Agnieszka Bielach, Anas Abuzeineh, Maria Simaskova, Peter Marhavy, Petra Zadnikova
Keywords
lateral root development - hormonal cross-talk - auxin transport - auxin - cytokinin
Science
Plant development is in many aspects unique and is characterized by a continuous growth and flexible adjustments of the plant architecture in response to the environment. To achieve its profound adaptability, plants are able to maintain permanent stem cell populations, dedifferentiate already committed cells and, not least, to regenerate or form organs de novo. These developmental processes are governed and coordinated by signalling substances called hormones such as auxin, abscisic acid, brassinosteroid, cytokinin, ethylene, gibberellin, and jasmonic acid. Over the past decades, physiological and genetic studies have revealed that hormone action in plants is determined by complex interactions between hormonal signalling pathways. To identify molecular components of hormonal metabolism and signalling, genetic approaches have been successfully used and led to a basic molecular understanding of hormone action in plants. However, molecular basis for hormonal cross-talk is still largely unknown and its clarification represents a major challenge in the coming years for plant biology research. We use lateral root formation in Arabidopsis as a model system to study mechanisms of hormonal interactions regulating plant organogenesis.
Lateral root organogenesis is an exceptional developmental process because it involves postembryonic production of an entirely new organ from a small number of already differentiated cells. In addition, lateral root formation is governed by a complex network of hormonal regulations. The phytohormone auxin dominates this process. Both lateral root initiation and primordia development have been demonstrated to be governed by auxin. A crucial, additional level of regulation of auxin action in lateral root organogenesis represents its intercellular distribution. In Arabidopsis, the AUX/LAX family of influx and PIN family of efflux carrier proteins mediate intercellular auxin transport and, thus, determine auxin distribution within plant tissues. Polar, subcellular localization of PIN proteins determines the direction of the auxin flow and coordinated changes in PIN localization during lateral root formation play a key role in the formation of the auxin gradient and lateral root development.
Recent reports suggest that multiple signalling pathways converge in lateral root organogenesis and, in concert with spatial auxin signalling, collectively regulate this developmental process.
In our work, we use lateral root development in Arabidopsis as a system to study mechanisms of plant hormones action, the molecular basis of their interactions, and the role of these interactions in organogenesis.
Selected Publications
Zádniková P, Petrásek J, Marhavy P, Raz V, Vandenbussche F, Ding Z, Schwarzerová K, Morita M, Tasaka M, Hejátko J, Van Der Straeten D, Friml J, Benková E
Role of PIN-mediated auxin efflux in apical hook development of Arabidopsis thaliana
DEVELOPMENT 137, 607-17, 2010
Ruzicka K, Simásková M, Duclercq J, Petrásek J, Zazímalová E, Simon S, Friml J, Van Montagu M, Benková E
Cytokinin regulates root meristem activity via modulation of the polar auxin transport
P NATL ACAD SCI USA 106, 4284-9, 2009
Dubrovsky J, Sauer M, Napsucialy-Mendivil S, Ivanchenko M, Friml J, Shishkova S, Celenza J, Benková E
Auxin acts as a local morphogenetic trigger to specify lateral root founder cells
P NATL ACAD SCI USA 105, 8790-4, 2008
Ruzicka K, Ljung K, Vanneste S, Podhorská R, Beeckman T, Friml J, Benková E
Ethylene regulates root growth through effects on auxin biosynthesis and transport-dependent auxin distribution
PLANT CELL 19, 2197-212, 2007
Benková E, Michniewicz M, Sauer M, Teichmann T, Seifertová D, Jürgens G, Friml J
Local, efflux-dependent auxin gradients as a common module for plant organ formation
CELL 115, 591-602, 2003
Search Publications
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