FP6 priority

1.1.5   Food Quality and Safety

Title of the proposal

Advanced genomics and biotechnology for crop improvement

Institute

Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology
Akademicka 2, P.O.Box 39 A, 950 07 Nitra, Slovak Republic

Contact

Research subject for a potential FP6 project

The crop improvement is a very important problem of the third millenium. We concentrate on embryo development in situ and in vitro conditions and on detection of genes and their products that regulate the process. In system of somatic embryogenesis we follow the role of some signalling molecules (AGPs, auxin complexes). In gametic embryogenesis (androgenesis and gynogenesis) we aim our interest towards molecular markers of microspore origin of the plants that posses a high potential to accelerate the breeding process of the plants and can significantly shorten the preparation of homozygote plants.
The next our orientation is aimed towards incorporation of new important and economically valuable traits into the agricultural crops and fruit trees to enhance their quality and tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses. We also screen plant genomes for new compounds that can influence plant resistance against fungal pathogenes and for genes that can regulate quality of fibres in flax plants and quality of seeds.

Recent international cooperation of the research team

Plant Research International, Wageningen, The Netherland; Inst. Microbiology and Genetics, Vienna Biocenter, Austria; Agricultural Research Institute of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Martonvasar, Hungary; AgroBio-Center, Kostinbrod, Bulgaria; Biological Centre, Szeged, Hungary; Banat`s University, Timisoara, Romania; University of Georgia, Athens, USA; ETH, Zurich, Switzerland; National Institute of Agrobiological Resources, Tsukuba, Japan; Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Proposer´s relevant publications related to the research subject

-Barnabas B., Ponya Z., Szakacs E., Timar I., Obert B., Pretova A. 2001: Biotechnology and Micromanipulation of Sexual Process of flowering Plants. Biologia, 56,7-12.
-Pretova A., Obert B., Wetzstein H.Y. 2001: Changes oin 35S GUS gene expression during transgenic tobacco plant development. Biotechnology Letters, 23, 555-558.
-Pretova A., Obert B., Hajduch M., Gregova E. 2001: Total protein and isozyme characteriyation in the flax zygotic embryo during development. Sexual Plant Reproduction. 13, 329-334.
-Nap J.P., Mlynarova L., Loonen A. Mietkiewska E., Hutwagner G., Bekesiova I. Moravcikova J., Matusova R. Stiekema W. 1999: Predictable expresion of transgenes in plants the chromatin Connection. Biologia 54, Suppl. 7, 44.
-Bekesiova I., Nap J.P., Mlynarova L. 1999: Isolation of high quality DNA and RNA from leaves of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia.. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter , 17, 267-277.