Dr. Jorge Casal
Jefe de Laboratorio
Fisiología Molecular de Plantas Versión en español
Subject
We investigate the molecular mechanisms that plants use to adjust their body form and function to the prevailing conditions of the environment, particularly the shade imposed by neighbour plants within the crop.
Plants adjust their body form and function to the prevailing environmental conditions. The focus of our research is on the molecular mechanisms and functional implications of plant responses to the shade cues caused by the presence of neighbours. The current trend in field crops is to use higher plant densities, which increase mutual plant shading. In this context, plant phenotypic plasticity in response to shade becomes crucial to minimise the negative effects of crowding on the productivity per plant.
We investigate the signalling network of photo-sensory receptors that mediate growth responses to shade. We analyse the dynamics of key photo-sensory receptors, transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators, uncovering novel spatial patterns (cell, tissue and organ), kinetic features and molecular interactions, including links to the plant endogenous information (hormonal cues, circadian clock).
Approach
We challenge the system with temporal fluctuations of neighbour cues or with changes in other variables of the environment (temperature, water availability, nutrients) because we want to understand the molecular mechanisms plants use to cope with the complex environment that they have to face in the field.
Advances
Our findings include the Identification of the photo-sensory receptor phytochrome B as the first known temperature sensor in plants and the molecular mechanisms involved in this function. We have elucidated mechanisms of neighbour perception and downstream signalling by photo-sensory receptors and their role in kin recognition in plants and in the control of photosynthesis and water use efficiency. We have characterised the kinetics of sub-cellular localisation of the E3-ligase COP1 in response to the environment, debunking the long-standing idea that these movements were too slow to account for the regulation of its nuclear targets and identified these targets in response to shade and warmth.
We investigate the molecular mechanisms that plants use to adjust their body form and function to the prevailing conditions of the environment, particularly the shade imposed by neighbour plants within the crop.
Plants adjust their body form and function to the prevailing environmental conditions. The focus of our research is on the molecular mechanisms and functional implications of plant responses to the shade cues caused by the presence of neighbours. The current trend in field crops is to use higher plant densities, which increase mutual plant shading. In this context, plant phenotypic plasticity in response to shade becomes crucial to minimise the negative effects of crowding on the productivity per plant.
We investigate the signalling network of photo-sensory receptors that mediate growth responses to shade. We analyse the dynamics of key photo-sensory receptors, transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators, uncovering novel spatial patterns (cell, tissue and organ), kinetic features and molecular interactions, including links to the plant endogenous information (hormonal cues, circadian clock).
Approach
We challenge the system with temporal fluctuations of neighbour cues or with changes in other variables of the environment (temperature, water availability, nutrients) because we want to understand the molecular mechanisms plants use to cope with the complex environment that they have to face in the field.
Advances
Our findings include the Identification of the photo-sensory receptor phytochrome B as the first known temperature sensor in plants and the molecular mechanisms involved in this function. We have elucidated mechanisms of neighbour perception and downstream signalling by photo-sensory receptors and their role in kin recognition in plants and in the control of photosynthesis and water use efficiency. We have characterised the kinetics of sub-cellular localisation of the E3-ligase COP1 in response to the environment, debunking the long-standing idea that these movements were too slow to account for the regulation of its nuclear targets and identified these targets in response to shade and warmth.