András Székely

• Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology

We assumed that miRNAs might regulate the physiological and biochemical processes in plants through their effects on the redox system and phytohormones. To check this hypothesis, the transcriptome profile of wild‐type Arabidopsis and lines with decreased ascorbate (Asc), glutathione (GSH), or salicylate (Sal) levels were compared. GSH deficiency di...

Light intensity and spectrum play a major role in the regulation of the growth, development, and stress response of plants. Changes in the light conditions affect the formation of reactive oxygen species, the activity of the antioxidants, and, consequently, the redox environment in the plant tissues. Many metabolic processes, thus the biogenesis an...

The effects of various light intensities and spectral compositions on glutathione and amino acid metabolism were compared in wheat. Increase of light intensity (low—normal—high) was accompanied by a simultaneous increase in the shoot fresh weight, photosynthetic activity and glutathione content. These parameters were also affected by the modificati...

Phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (PITP) and phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PI4K) are very upstream regulatory elements of the phospholipid signaling pathway in the signal transduction network. Unlike in animal systems, their role in stress signaling is poorly understood in plants. To study this area, PITP- and PI4K-overexpressing transgenic ba...

Non-infected and infected cereal crops, respectively, are treated in the afterglow of Ar/N2-O2 surface-wave microwave discharges at 2–8 mbar pressure. It is shown, that the germination and vigour of non-infected seeds are not significantly effected, when barley is treated max 120 s at 2 mbar and maize 240 s at 4 mbar. On the other hand, seeds can b...

In Arabidopis a high number of distinct mRNAs move from shoot to root. We previously reported on the correlation of m ⁵ C-methylation and lack of mRNA transport in juvenile plants depending on the RNA methyltransferases DNMT2 NSUN2B . However, to our surprise we uncovered that lack of DNMT2 NSUN2B (writer) activity did not abolished transport of TC...

It is shown that plasma‐activated water (PAW) improves tolerance against combined low temperature and hypoxia stresses during germination. Due to PAW’s effect on the antioxidant system, PAW pretreatment mitigates the reducing effect on plant growth of the hydroponically applied NaCl. PAW pretreatment reduces the salt‐stress‐induced decrease of the...

CBF (C-repeat binding factor) transcription factors show high expression levels in response to cold; moreover, they play a key regulatory role in cold acclimation processes. Recently, however, more and more information has led to the conclusion that, apart from cold, light— including its spectra—also has a crucial role in regulating CBF expression....