apl. Prof. Dr. Rob Roelfsema

apl. Prof. Rob Roelfsema (Leiter)

Pallegama (Krishani) Tennakoon (Doktorandin)

Namrah Ahmad (Doktorandin)

Plants are constantly monitoring their environment with a variety of sensors, which detect signals such as light and temperature, as well as mechanical and chemical cues. We study how these signals alter the transport of electrically charged nutrients (ions) in plants. Ion transport is of major importance for plants, since they take up most nutrients as ions from soil and distribute them via the roots and stem to leaves and flowers. In addition, growth and movements of plant tissues strongly depends on ion transport. A central project in our research are stomatal movements, through which plants open and close pores in the leaf surface. These pores enable uptake of CO₂ for photosynthesis and the loss of water by transpiration. Opening of the pores is driven via the uptake of potassium ions (K⁺) into guard cells, while K⁺ is these cells released during stomatal closure. The regulation of K⁺ transport in guard cells is therefore directly linked to the control of CO₂ uptake and water consumption of plants. The long term goal of our research is to get deep insights into these processes and enable breeding of crop plants that need less water for growth. In addition to the research on regulation of stomatal movements we currently focus on the following topics:

Projects

• Potassium-Transport in rice plants

• Chitin-induced ion fluxes in leaves

• Anion uptake systems in plant cells

Teaching

Publications