Special Feature from the European Plant Science Organisation
epso
Plant Science in Poland
Plant Science in Poland / February 2015
Contents:
Editorial
 A birds eye view on a history of plant
-related activities in Poland
Contents
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IBB, Warsaw
Light in Plant Life, Krakow
University of Bialystok
Laboratory of Physiomics and Biotechnological Crop Modeling, Warsaw
University of Lodz
National Research Institute
Wrocław University
RNA biology is the leading topic in
Poznań
Plant Biology at the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry in
Poznan
University of Silesia in Katowice
Major plant-related activities at
Gdańsk
About EPSO
EPSO, the European Plant Science
Organisation, is an independent
academic organisation that represents
over 220 leading academic research
institutes, universities and departments
from 31 countries. Together they
represent
over
28
000
plant
researchers and staff. In addition,
EPSO has over 3100 personal
members.
The mission of EPSO is to promote
plant science and plant scientists, to
represent plant scientists in discussions
about future plant science programme
priorities across Europe, to provide an
authoritative source of independent
information on plant science, and to
promote training of plant scientists to
meet 21st Century challenges in
breeding,
agriculture,
horticulture,
forestry, plant ecology and sectors
related to plant science.
See page 10 for more details.
Plant Science in Poland
Editorial
A birds eye view on a history of plantrelated activities in Poland
For centuries, the lands that lie within the
historic and present-day Poland territory
were used intensively for agriculture and
were renowned suppliers of excellent food
and fodder. In a very deep Polish tradition,
owning of the land was considered as a
mark of societal status, and this conviction
has also helped very much to preserve Polish identity during difficult years
of partition of Poland (1772-1795-1918), and also after the II World War
under communist regime. Still today, agriculture is the basis of living for
almost a quarter of Polish population.
It is thus coming as no surprise that plant-oriented activities, among them
research, are also deeply rooted in Polish history. However, only two
names will be mentioned here. Edward Strasburger (1844-1912), famous
cell biologist, who discovered and described the major phases of mitosis,
created the term cytoplasm, is known also as an author of the classical
Lehrbuch der Botanik. Born in Warsaw, Polish in origin, he spent most of
his life in Germany. Dezydery Chłapowski (1788-1879), Polish general of
the Napoleonic times, is now recognized as a man who introduced in his
Turew estate in Wielkopolska region, a type of agricultural practice which
can now be considered as modern sustainable agriculture.
The end of II World War brought another disaster to the development of
plant sciences. A complete destruction of research substance in Poland
forced the survivors to create any kind of research just from a scratch. And
when it was achieved two other communist strikes came by. The first one –
“lysenkism” – resulted in the total political ban of some kind of research,
especially genetics and crop improvement. The second one aimed the
autonomy of Polish universities, and late fifties of XX century have seen the
destruction of normal structure of classical university. The agricultural
faculties, and several others, of all existing universities has been torn out
and transformed into agricultural academies. This division persists still
today.
The year 1989, bringing down communism in Poland, opened a wealth of
opportunities, also in plant sciences, both in basic and applied research. At
present, despite extremely low level of public funding of research, plant
sciences are quickly gaining importance and a good degree of international
recognition. Polish research groups
are progressing quickly, and some
topics, like RNA biology, become
“Polish specialties”. The following
contributions would provide a good
evidence for it.
Contacts: Jacek Hennig, Przemysław
Wojtaszek
1
IBB, Warsaw
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IBB) Polish
Academy of Sciences has joined EPSO as the first institutional member in Poland. ‘Green’ groups of the IBB
conduct basic research to elucidate at multiple levels
mechanisms that govern plant defense to various environmental cues.
drought (A. Jerzmanowski Lab), sulfur deficiency (A.
Sirko Lab), pathogen attack (J. Hennig Lab) or during
preharvest sprouting (S. Swiezewski Lab).
This research contributes to a better
and more comprehensive understanding
of plant biology and provides scientific
bases for the establishment of effective
plant protection systems.
Many different plant species and growth systems are Contacts: Jacek Hennig
used at the IBB to decipher the signal transduction pathways activated by high salinity (G. Dobrowolska Lab),
Light in Plant Life, Krakow
The research interests of plant science groups working
at the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University in Kraków principally revolve around the mechanisms by which light is converted into (bio)chemically useful forms and the role of light
in the control of plant development and functioning of the
photosynthetic cell. These investigations aim at elucidation of molecular mechanisms underlying the participation of major photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls and
carotenoids, in the assembly, functioning and photoprotection of the active components of plant photosynthetic
apparatus. One of our goals is the understanding of regulatory mechanisms of energy conversion and mechanisms of protection of the photosynthetic apparatus. Other aspects involve the biosynthesis and biodegradation
of chlorophylls, in particular the photoconversion of protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide catalyzed by the lightdependent protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase, and the
reactions catalysed by chlorophyllases.
stream of phototropins remains enigmatic. Signalling
target(s), signal carriers and modulators are in focus of
the research group involved in a broader EU FP7 project
CALIPSO. Calcium- and Light Signals in Photosynthetic
Organisms is an interdisciplinary network grouping 9
academic and 3 industrial partners. The project aims at
identifying environmentally triggered calcium signals and
protein phosphorylation events that control photosynthesis and metabolism.
Other studies involve plant DNA damage repair mechanisms. DNA lesions caused e.g. by UV light may be repaired in light-dependent and light-independent manner.
The former pathway involves photolyases, blue-lightactivated enzymes present in most organisms. They operate in nuclei, chloroplasts and mitochondria. Lightindependent nuclear DNA repair pathways in plants use
Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen protein also involved
Light absorbed by specialized photoreceptors controls
in DNA replication and cell cycle control. The research
both plant development and movements. Chloroplast
involves well known and putative photolyases as well as
movements, one of the key short-term plant acclimation
the role of PCNA in plant DNA repair.
responses (see photo), are regulated via blue-lightabsorbing phototropins. The signalling pathway(s) down- Contact: Halina Gabryś
University of Bialystok
Institute of Biology (University of Bialystok, Poland) integrates plant scientists focused on diverse fields of paleobiology, evolutionary biology, ecology, biochemistry, toxicology and plant physiology. The paleobiology group
explores the postglacial plant vegetation history, based
on pollen and macrofossil analyses, with respect to climate change and human activity in the North-Eastern
Poland. The ecologists and plant geneticists carry out
projects referring to the phylogeographical and genetic
diversity patterns, studied with the use of different molecular tools and DNA markers, in the whole geographical range of northern and steppe plants, under changing
climate and human impact. They also study long-term
demographic processes in the Biebrza Valley, integrate
the genetic and plant ecology data to explain evolutionary potential and conservation strategies of rare, endangered plant, particularly orchids (see photo). Two independent research groups of biochemists and physiologists study various aspects of plant adaptation to stress
Plant Science in Poland
factors, acclimation to abiotic stress condition, such as
Pi deficiency, heavy metals, wounding, oxidative stress,
and protection of photosynthetic apparatus of green algae and vascular plants. Model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, oat, wheat, maize, flax, Chlorella vulgaris,
and Scenedesmus sp. are used in these surveys. They
analyze the influence of natural hormones, their chemical analogues and other regulators, including abscisic
acid, auxins, brassinosteroids or polyamines, on plant
growth and development, metabolic pathways and detoxification
mechanisms, and taking into consideration various aspects, mechanisms and the different levels of
biological system.
Actually, we are moving to wellequipped buildings in a new campus area of the University of Bialystok.
Contact: Iwona Ciereszko
2
production,
wood properties and
stress tolerance in the
plant
by
overexpressing or
attenuating
the expression of at
least two of
LSD1, EDS1, PAD4 MPK4, CAO, PsbS genes has
been powered and is presently on patent pending.
Method and apparatus for plant protection are also patented (publication date 15/12/2011, WO 2011/154522,
PCT/EP2011/059682). Recently we also demonstrated
that MPK4 regulate plant growth but not photosynthesis
in salicylic acid-independent mode.
Laboratory of Physiomics
and Biotechnological Crop
Modeling, Warsaw
Our research in the Laboratory of Physiomics and Biotechnological Crop Modeling, Warsaw University of Life
Sciences (SGGW) in Warsaw concerns plants molecular physiology, genetics, biophysics and biotechnology
with focus on regulatory aspects of photosynthesis,
photorespiration, retrograde signaling, cell death and
plant productivity. In 2010 we discovered lightdependent retrograde electrical and electrochemical
signaling that regulates so called light memory and integrated light acclimatory (SAA) and immune defenses
(SAR) in plants. William John Lucas, distinguished professor of plant biology at UC-Davis, said "an internal
communication system would provide a wealth of information to different parts of the plant. There is a communication network that we don't fully understand. That
knowledge could lead to optimized food crops or hardier
trees" Prof. Christine Foyer a plant scientist from the
University of Leeds, said the study "took our thinking
one step forward".
In our present and future research we are going to find
an answer to a basic question; how plant adjust fate of
absorbed photons for optimizing molecular and physiological processes to reach the best possible yield, acclimation and defences in highly fluctuating field conditions?
Our data are demonstrating that in the field LSD1/
EDS1/PAD4 conditionally regulate cellular signaling
homeostasis, photosynthesis, water use efficiency and
seed yield in Arabidopsis. Transgenic poplar (Populus
trichocarpa Torr. et Gray.) trees with ameliorated cell
wall and wood growth properties are growing (fifth season) in the WULS experimental field Wolica. The method of regulating growth, seed yield, increasing biomass
University of
Lodz
Institute of Experimental
Biology at the Faculty of Biology and Environmental
Protection of University of Lodz is one of the leading
university institutes dedicated to research and teaching
in plant biology. It provides undergraduate, graduate
and post-graduate programs in plant biology and biotechnology.
Scientists of four departments of the Institute are engaged in plant science research and their works are
published in the high ranking journals of JCR. Two of
them, Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
and Department of Ecophysiology and Plant Development have several strategic targets for their multidisciplinary research in the area of plant science, involving: physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of plant responses to environmental stresses,
such as pathogens, salinity, heavy metals; plant secondary metabolites in agriculture, human diet; and new
strategies to optimize cultivation of energy crop biomass, and innovative technology of algae and Cyanobacteria metabolites applied to reduce fertilizers. The
third one, Department of Cytophysiology, uses multidisciplinary approaches to understanding cellular process-
Plant Science in Poland
Contact: Stanisław Karpiński
Figure. Representative pictures of chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters. The panels display false color images of quantum yield of PSII (Y(II)) and quantum yield of
non-regulated energy dissipation (Y(NO)) of 4-week-old
Arabidopsis rosettes. Scale bar = 1 cm.
es occurring during growth and development in plants.
The main fields of interest include: mechanisms of cell
cycle regulation, structural and functional organization
of chromatin, exo- and endogenous factors engaged in
cell signaling and plant morphogenesis. Last but not
least, Department of Genetics and Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, utilizes the modern molecular
and genetic engineering methodologies to explore molecular mechanisms of plant gene regulation, plantmicrobe interaction, and biotechnological application of
plant systems.
Our recent discoveries include: subcellular compartmentation of the antioxidant defense during tomatoBotrytis cinerea interaction; integration of carbon and
nitrogen metabolism in wheat and cucumber exposed to
nickel and salt stress; proteins and metabolic pathways
modified by melatonin exogenously applied to cucumber seeds; molecular and functional organization of cell
cycle checkpoints; role of lipotubuloids in the synthesis
of lipids in plants; regulatory functions of plasmodesmata; genetic modification of plants for production of recombinant proteins including enzymes and biopharmaceuticals; and genetically encoded system for recombinant protein purification using ELP-intein tag.
Contacts: Andrzej Kononowicz, Elżbieta KuźniakGębarowska, Janusz Maszewski
3
National Research Institute
The Plant Breeding and Acclimatization
Institute - National Research Institute
(IHAR-PIB) is the largest Polish research centre in the agricultural area.
Organization structure. The Institute
was established in 1951 with the headquarters at
Radzików (near Warsaw) and subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. As a result
of organizational changes over the years, IHAR-PIB
now consists of 6 research branch divisions in Bonin,
Bydgoszcz, Jadwisin, Młochów, Poznań, and Radzików.
The Institute runs 6 Experimental Stations operating in
different parts of Poland, and owns 5 highly competitive
Plant Breeding Companies Ltd. united in the “IHAR-PIB
Group”.
Research activity. IHAR-PIB is the largest Polish research centre in the multi-disciplinary area of crop improvement, biotechnology, germplasm conservation and
enhancement. Soon after establishment the Institute
was recognized as an important player in crop improvement research not only in Central Europe, but also
worldwide. Excellent publication record resulted in wide
Wrocław University
contacts with international community of researchers
and plant breeders in both Europe and North America.
IHAR-PIB staff has been frequently visiting leading universities around the world, gathering knowledge on recent trends and methods for crop improvement. The
high quality of IHAR-PIB staff brought there a number of
doctoral students and young researchers from Poland
and abroad. Because of that, the Institute became also
a leading educational centre at the advanced level in
numerous research fields related to plant breeding and
seed production.
Scientific cooperation. Currently, about 160 projects
are carried out at the Institute, and financed by the
Polish government, 7 international EU projects and also
10 bilateral agreements. To preserve the highest standards of R&D activity, IHAR-PIB researchers participate
in numerous international consortia and scientific research programmes, such as: C-IPM ERANet, SynTest,
FACCE JPI, POTPAT, PreSto GMO, ProLegu. The Institute is a publisher of 2 scientific journals in English
and 4 in Polish, numerous leaflets and brochures. Each
year the Institute organizes international scientific symposia, conferences, meetings, workshops, field days
and exhibitions.
Contact: Edward Arseniuk, IHAR Secretariat
stasis, which is a crucial element of plant plasticity in
changing environment.
Wrocław University
holds four research
groups working on
different aspects of
plant
functioning.
Two of them: Morphology and Plant
Development (MPD)
and Plant Molecular Physiology (PMP) are located within the Faculty of Biological Sciences, and two others:
Cellular Molecular Biology (CMB) and Genetic Biochemistry (GB) – within the Faculty of Biotechnology.
The CMB research concentrates on mitochondria. The
main goal of these studies is to understand better the
adaptive changes of plant mitochondrial proteome in
response to environmental and physiological challenges, beginning with alternations in protein synthesis, going through proteolytic maturation, post-translational
modifications to end with protein degradation. Special
attention is paid to the regulatory role of mitoribosomes
in protein synthesis and to the involvement of protein
quality control system in mitochondrial biogenesis. The
CMB researchers have shown that translation of mitochondrial transcripts can be affected by alterations in
mitoribosomes. They have also identified and characterThe overall research theme of the MPD is plants phenoized a number of mitochondrial proteases. Their current
typing, the mechanism of periodic patterns formation at
research explores the novel links between mitochonthe cellular and tissue level during plant ontogeny, esdria, chloroplasts and nucleus in a plant cell.
pecially: computer modeling of phyllotaxis ontogenetic
transitions, symmetry and meristic variation in flowers, The GB team exploits metabolic engineering (genetic
cambial waves and figured wood formation. The MPD and epigenetic) of plants to increase their industrial and
team is also engaged in studying evolutionary process- biomedical value. A good example of such research are
es first leading to the formation of plant body and then flax plants resistant to Fusarium infections, enriched
increasing its complexity.
with antioxidants of phenylpropanoid and isoprenoid
pathways, capable of accumulating polyamines and
Research projects in PMP aim at better understanding
producing polyhydroxybutyrate in fibers. The oil from
the biochemistry and molecular biology of a large group
engineered flax is beneficial for human protection
of membrane transporters involved in primary (proton
against atherosclerosis whereas its fibers are effective
pumps, metal pumps) as well as secondary (nitrate,
in healing of chronic wounds. Also the residues (e.g.
ammonium and heavy metals) transport of ions in a
seedcake) and wastes (e.g. shives) are suitable for procontext of their role in regulation of both, the minerals
tection against cancer and inflammatory processes,
uptake by plants and specific defenses developed unthey combat pathogenic microbes, activate skin regender environmental stresses. Insight into the transport
eration and similarly to fibers promote healing of chronic
mechanisms in plant cells contributes to understanding
wounds.
the complexity and dynamics of the cellular ion homeoContact: Grażyna Kłobus
Plant Science in Poland
4
RNA biology is the leading
topic in Poznań
Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznań,
Poland is the leader of New Member State Cluster Poznań, which
was the second institutional member from Poland to join EPSO in 2008.
This reflects the position of Poznań as
one of the strongest research centres in
plant sciences in Poland.
The funds will support various aspects of RNA research
from basic research on RNA metabolism, through more
applied studies, up to the development of bioinformatics
tools that allow advanced structure
-function studies. Also, four new
research groups will be created.
Moreover, the Centre will open a
new international school for PhD
students.
A special fund will be created for young
scientists from other scientific institutions
to provide financial support for training in
RNA research techniques. As there are
several “green” groups in both members
of “Poznań RNA Centre, plant sciencesrelated projects are also included with
topics concerning microRNAs and their
metabolism, plant signaling pathways,
bioinformatics tools for the large-scale
analyses of sequencing data and in transcriptomics,
among others. The additional funding will also allow for
the organization of intensive courses, conferences, and
exchange of researchers both nationally and internationally.
In 2014, “Poznań RNA Centre”, composed of Faculty of Biology AMU and
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry Polsih
Academy of Sciences has been awarded the status of KNOW – Leading National Research Centre, the first one to be granted in
biological sciences. This status, assigned by Minister of
Science and Higher Education on a very competitive
basis, can only be given to institutions carrying out research at the highest level and providing PhD studies of
the highest quality. The KNOW program involves substantial additional funding for 5 years from Polish gov- Contacts: Jan Sadowski, Zofia Szweykowska-Kulińska
ernment to promote research and education at the best
Polish research centers.
Plant Biology at the University of Warsaw
Several groups of plant biologists
from the Faculty of Biology of University of Warsaw have made important discoveries on the mechanisms of plant responses to changing environments from the molecular
to the ecophysiological level. These
discoveries have great importance
for the biodiversity of food crops,
and their safety and quality.
discoveries regarding the adaptation of the chloroplast
thylakoid membrane structure, and its proteome and
lipidome to low temperature and to changing light conditions. This was studied both in mature chloroplasts and
during chloroplast biogenesis. The regulation of oxidative metabolism and plant adaptation to a changing environment e.g. in sulfur-deficient conditions was also
researched.
Another aspect of plant tolerance to stress conditions is
their response to metal uptake, translocation and distribution, processes that are crucial for phytoremediation
and for mineral biofortification. Research at the Danuta
M. Antosiewicz group has contributed to a better understanding of the activation of the endogenous metal homeostasis mechanisms underlying the development of
metal-related characteristic features in transgenic
plants. Such activation of the so-called “metal crosshomeostasis” has emerged as a factor of primary importance for the field.
A commercially crucial task is to adapt economically
important plant species that originally grew in subtropical and tropical climates, such as: maize, tomato, cucumber and bean, to a temperate climate. In this regard, it is not only important to understand the basic
mechanisms responsible for such adaptation but also to The group of Andrzej Jerzmanowski uncovered the modevelop cold-resistant varieties of these species for lecular networks linking environmental cues to the reseed companies.
programming of plants’ development, through the disRepresentative examples of plant biology research at covery of a novel and universal mechanism responsible
for translating ABA-mediated signals into the epigenetthe Faculty are given below.
ic chromatin pattern.
In the Paweł Sowiński group, the primary objective has
been to increase, integrate and generalize the Knowledge of the regulatory mechanism
knowledge and understanding of the basic mechanisms of plants to adapt to conditions of enviresponsible for the adaptation of the subtropical crops ronmental stress will allow for the creato cooler environments. Chilling stress is also the re- tion of new varieties that are resistant to
search domain of the Agnieszka Mostowska and Maciej changing environments.
Garstka group. In particular, they have made important Contact: Agnieszka Mostowska
Plant Science in Poland
5
search in the area of transport
activities and biological effects
behind proper distribution of
various precursors and the end
Tackling functions and cellular distribution products of metabolic pathways. This revealed that in
of
metabolites
involved
in
plant- Medicago truncatula ABC proenvironment interaction.
teins may function as phenolics carriers and participate in a
Biosynthesis and secretion of secondary metabolites long distance movement of
play important role in interactions of plants with their early intermediates of medicarpin biosynthesis.
environment. Our research activities address detailed
questions concerning the role of these compounds and The group of Pawel Bednarek dissects biosynthesis of
membrane transporters in interactions of plants with secondary metabolites with function in the innate imother organisms. We focus our attention on groups of munity of Brassicaceae species. Experiments with Arasecondary metabolites exemplified by tryptophan- bidopsis thaliana revealed several new components of
derivatives and flavonoids, as well as on the family of respective metabolic pathways and enabled their funcABC transporters in the model Brassicaceae and Faba- tional verification, while work with other model Brassicaceae species. High throughput transcriptomics, prote- ceae species enabled preliminary insights into their
omics and metabolomics approaches combined with in evolution. Overall, this research contributes to the desilico analysis, deliver candidate genes/proteins/ velopment of moleccompounds for our approaches.
ular tools that may
be used to rationally
The group of Maciej Stobiecki is involved in proteomic affect the efficiency
and metabolomic studies of crops affected by drought of plant adaptation
stress. Techniques based on mass spectrometry com- to the challenging
bined with liquid or gas chromatography facilitate the environment.
separation and identification of proteins and metabolites, including those responsive to drought.
Contacts: Michał Jasiński, Paweł Bednarek, Maciej
Stobiecki
The team led by Michał Jasiński attempts a new quality
by including important findings and concepts of the re-
Institute
of
Bioorganic
Chemistry in Poznan
developmental regulation of the formation of plant tissues and organs with particular attention to root and
shoot apices, determination of organ geometry and
mathematic modelling of growth providing for cell divisions, and computer simulations based on the empiric
data.
University of Silesia in Katowice
Plant sciences at Faculty of Biology
and Environment Protection, University of Silesia in Katowice are
represented by the fields of plant
biotechnology, plant experimental
biology, and conservation biology.
When studying symplastic communication and physicochemical modifications of a cell wall in cytodifferentiation, particular attention is paid to the spatial and temporal determination of symplastic domain
One of the ongoing projects is focused on revealing the development in plant embryos and seedlings and their
structure and evolution of plant genomes at the cy- importance for tissue and organ generation.
tomolecular level. Major topics include: the size of nu- Last but not least, the study of genesis and function of
clear genome; the structure of chromatin and its epige- electric potentials aims to determine the organisation
netic modifications at various stages of cell cycle; physi- of the plasma membrane electrogenic H+-ATPase as
cal localisation of genes and non-coding DNA sequenc- well as various aspects of hormonal regulation of plant
es, as well as detection and characterisation of natural growth under nuand induced chromosome rearrangements.
merous stress conditions, such as
heavy metals, UV,
temperature, electric and magnetic
field.
The group dealing with the functional genomics of
crops and model organisms aims to identify genes
involved in plant development and stress responses in
vivo and in vitro. Current projects are focused on functional genomics of root development and drought tolerance in Hordeum vulgare, the role of epigenetic modifications, especially DNA methylation, in the adaptation
of cereals to environmental stress conditions and identification of regulatory genes controlling plant regeneration via somatic embryogenesis induced in vitro in Arabidopsis.
Studies in the field
of plant biodiversity conservation are focused on plant
invasions: human perception, ecological impacts
and management. The whole research is funded by
numerous domestic and international grants.
Contact: Robert Hasterok
The research linked with morphometric analyses and
mathematic modelling of organs concentrates on the
Plant Science in Poland
6
Major plant-related activities
at Gdańsk
POTPAT
PolishNorwegian Research Collaboration program of
Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology University of
Gdansk, and Norwegian
BIOFORSK
entitled
“Potato pathogen populations in changing climatic
conditions of Norway and Poland and the mechanisms of their interaction with host”.
The project focuses on potato pathogens: Phytophthora
infestans causing potato late blight and Pectobacterium
spp. and Dickeya spp. (so-called soft rot Enterobacteriaceae) causing black leg and soft rot of the potato tubers and soft rot diseases on other crops. The prime
goals of the project are: to characterize current populations of Phytophthora infestans and pectinolytic bacteria
(Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp.) in both countries, to evaluate resistance of various potato genotypes
to selected isolates of pathogen, to estimate the influence of the weather on both host resistance and virulence expression, to identify inoculum sources and disease pressure in relation to weather and to develop a
weather based forecasting model for potato late blight
incorporating the effect of resistance. The project will
positively influence our understanding of climate conditions on plant pathogens populations and consequently
provides information useful to their control.
Polish-French collaboration projects HARMONIA
and POLONIUM entitled “Characteris-tics of the molecular mechanism involved in the pathogenicity of
plant pathogenic bacteria from the genus Dickeya
on potatoes”. Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology University of Gdansk and Microbiologie, Adaptation et Pathogenie UMR 5240 CNRS- UCBL –INSA.
The main goal of the project is to elucidate the molecular basis of the virulence of a new group of bacteria
from the genus Dickeya (postulated new species
‘Dickeya solani’) on potato. The study are concentrated
on the regulation of the synthesis of enzymes degrading
plant cell wall compounds, especially pectate lyase - the
main virulence factors of the plant pathogenic bacteria
from the genus Dickeya spp. The second goal of this
project is to identify the plant compound(s) involved in
induction of the expression of genes coding virulence
factors. The planned study should expand the
knowledge on molecular mechanisms guiding the interaction between plant and bacterial cells. The most important aspect will be elucidation of the molecular basis
of the specificity of the interaction between studied plant
and bacterial species.
Plant Science in Poland
Polish-Italian collaboration Project Canaletto.
“Study of the pangenome of plant pathogenic, pectinolytic bacteria - causative agent of losses on
potato crops in Europe”. Collaboration of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology University of
Gdansk and University of Florence
The aim of this research is to analyze the pangenome
and panregulon of two species of pectinolytic, phytopathogenic bacteria: Dickeya solani and Pectobacterium wasabiae. Mentioned microbes differ significantly
in their biodiversity level. D. solani strains exhibit homogeneity of the genomes contrarily to their diverse virulence intensity, whereas P. wasabiae strains display
higher divergence concerning both traits indicated. Presented characteristics determine profound potential of
these species as the models for analysis of pangenomes, core and accessory genomes. It is worth to underline that the pathogenicity of analyzed bacteria is
based mainly on the secretion of a wide range of exoenzymes involved in the plant cell wall and membrane
degradation, namely: pectinases, cellulases and proteases. We intend to identify structural and regulatory
genes connected with above-mentioned virulence factors.
Polish-French collaboration project POLONIUM –
„Study of the biosynthesis of coumarins using naturally occurring intraspecies variation present
among A. thaliana accessions”. Collaboration of the
Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology University
of Gdansk and the UMR 1121 Laboratoire Agronomie et Environnement Nancy-Colmar.
The study will be concentrated on the biosynthesis of
coumarins and their roles in plant responses to environmental stress. Coumarins are recognised in the pharmaceutical industry for their wide range of therapeutic
activities. The second goal is to elucidate the genetic
and molecular basis of coumarins biosynthesis using a
model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. By using a mutant
approach and naturally occurring intraspecies variation
present among A. thaliana accessions, we try to get
insight into the elicitation process and plant adaptation
to changing environmental conditions.
The Polish Society for Experimental Plant Biology
(PSEPB) together with the Intercollegiate Faculty of
Biotechnology University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk will be holding 7th PSEPB Conference from September 8th – 11th 2015. The opening
lecture entitled will be given by Prof. Maarten Koornneef. The conference will include six sessions: Natural
variation, Synthetic System and Biology, Plant Development and Gene Regulation, PlantMicrobe Interactions, Plant Responses to Abiotic Stress, Social and
Commercial Aspects of Plant Biotechnology.
Contact: Ewa Łojkowska
7
About EPSO
EPSO Members In Poland
EPSO, the European Plant
Science Organisation, is an
Warsaw New Member State Cluster
independent academic organisation that represents over
Representative: Jacek Hennig
220 leading academic reInstitutions and Supporting Scientists:
search institutes, universities
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Warsaw, Polish
and departments from 31
countries. Together they represent over 28 000 plant Academy of Sciences; Jacek Hennig, Wlodzimierz ZagórskiOstoja
researchers and staff. In addition, EPSO has over 3100 Department of Plant Genetics Breeding and Biotechnology personal members.
Warsaw University of Life Sciences; Marcin Filipecki
The mission of EPSO is to promote plant science and
plant scientists, to represent plant scientists in discussions
about future plant science programme
priorities across Europe, to provide an authoritative
source of independent information on plant science, and
to promote training of plant scientists to meet 21st Century challenges in
breeding, agriculture, horticulture,
forestry, plant ecology and sectors related to plant science.
To achieve its mission, EPSO advises policy and decision makers at national and European level on science
policy, as an independent body and as member of the
Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) and the European
Technology Platform ‘Plants for the Future’ (Plant ETP).
EPSO supports plant scientists via the EPSO conferences including support grants for junior and eastern
scientists, workshops, tutorships and as information
broker via EPSO News and its website.
Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - University of
Wrocław; Jan Szopa
Department of Physiology and Biochemistry - Research
Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Skierniewice; Lech
Michalczuk
Department of Biochemical Genetics - Institute of Plant
Genetics, PAS, Poznan; Tadeusz Rorat
Poznan New Member State Cluster
Representative: Przemyslaw Wojtaszek
Institutions and Supporting Scientists:
Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University; Przemyslaw
Wojtaszek
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Science;
Marek Figlerowicz
Department of Genetics and Plant Molecular Biology and
Biotechnology, University of Lodz; Andrzej K. Kononowicz
Faculty of Biology and Environmental protection, University of
Silesia; Iwona Szarejko
Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology,
Jagiellonian University; Kazimierz Strzalka
Poland organised over 200 events for Fas- nate people with plants. In all places, the numbers of the
cination of Plants Day 2013 and takes lead general public who turned up were great: a steady flow
of people all through the days. In addition to the open
for 2015
days organised in several research institutions and uniThe
international
"Fascination of Plants
Day" takes place under
the umbrella of EPSO.
The goal of this activity is to get as many people as possible around the world fascinated by plants and enthused about the importance of plant science for agriculture, in sustainably producing food, as well as for horticulture, forestry, and all of the non-food products such
as paper, timber, chemicals, energy, and pharmaceuticals.
versities, experimental and field demonstrations, excursions, virtual and real photo exhibitions, film projections, gardening sessions among many others were set
up. The events were given attention both at the radio
and television. Contact: Małgorzata Garnczarska
Poland takes lead for FoPD 2015
Przemyslaw Wojtaszek of the Adam
Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznań
is part of the Global Coordination team
for Fascination of Plants Day 2015. Log
In Poland more than 200 events were organised from in to www.plantday.org to find out more
13 to 19 May. Universities, botanic gardens, research information.
institutes and museums took up the challenge to fasci- Contact: Przemyslaw Wojtaszek
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to present all information selection, EPSO is happy to receive further and updated
accurately. However, no liability is accepted for any inclusions information for distribution.
or advice given or for omissions from the publication.
Correspondence regarding this publication should be addressed to:
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is not responsible for the contents of any information
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Email: [email protected]
Mail: European Plant Science Organisation,
Rue de l'Industrie 4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel/Fax: +32 (0)2 21362 61 / 69
As the information provided in EPSO News can only be a
Plant Science in Poland
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