Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

Yuval Eshed, Head


Plants offer the world its only renewable resource of foods, alternative energy and biotherapeutic compounds. Plants have highly sophisticated short and long-term adaptive mechanisms to the environment as a result of the simple fact that they cannot alter their location during environmental change. Basic understanding of how plants react to the environment and why they grow the way they do are central to devising a rational approach to address three important global challenges, namely to secure more and healthier food, to develop novel plant-based products associated with biotherapeutics and to produce alternative energy resources in the form of biofuels. Research activities in the Department of Plant Sciences are associated with all of the above-mentioned global challenges and range from studies on the function and regulation of isolated genes to their interactive behavior in the context of the whole plant. We have developed extensive in-house genomic, bioinformatics and transgenic infrastructure that enables us to isolate novel genes by gene trapping, knockout or map-based cloning. Cloned genes are manipulated and studied by transgenic analysis to establish their potential in the whole plant. Our research as listed below integrates methodologies of molecular biology, protein modeling, genomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, system biology, genetics, biochemistry and physiology.
Harnessing light energy and energy transduction in the plant cell: Research is carried out on the basic biophysical phenomenon of photon absorption by chlorophyll through transduction of this energy to ATP and the regulation of energy flux by the plant redox state.
Adaptive response in the plant to the biotic and abiotic environment: Molecular mechanisms that drive the cellular response are investigated under environmental perturbation. Research is directed in understanding the elements that play a role in the recognition of pathogens and the subsequent mounting of plant defense responses as well as in the response of plants to abiotic stresses, such as salt stress.
Plant metabolism and growth: Research is centered around elucidating regulatory metabolic networks for production of essential primary and secondary metabolites as well as understanding gene expression and hormonal networks that control plant metabolism, growth, reproduction and productivity.
Plant genome organization: Molecular tools have been developed to examine the fluidity of the plant genome, as described by transposon element, and the evolution of polyploid plants.


A. Aharoni

Genetic Regulation of Metabolic Pathways and its Co-ordination with Developmental and Stress Response Programs in Plant Biology

  1.  The Primary-Secondary Metabolism Interface

  2.  Regulation of Plant Surface Formation

  3.  Regulation of Secondary Metabolism Associated Metabolic Pathways

  4.  Plant and Yeast Metabolomics

  5.  Riboswitches in Plants: Post Transcriptional Regulators of Metabolic Pathways


A. Danon

Mode of action of redox-signal transduction factors.

Redox-signaling controling light-regulated translation. Mechanisms of disulfide bond formation and isomerization in the chloroplast.

RNA-binding proteins controling light-regulated translation.


M. Edelman

Modeling ligand-protein interactions.

Consensus structures for ATP binding sites.

Computer tools for analyzing molecular structures.

Tentoxin: structural mechanism of action.

Genetic engineering of aquatic plants.

National Center for Bioinformatic-Genetic Infrastructure.


R. Fluhr

Role of reactive oxygen species in pathogen defense and signal transduction.
R. Fluhr, A. Mor, N. Alkan, D. Prusky (ARO)

Transcriptome dynamics in plant growth and environmental response.
R. Fluhr, O. Davydov, D. Volodarsky, M. Sagi (BGU)

Plant resistance genes and their role as receptor-like proteins for pathogen generated factors. Their role in innate resistance, their architecture, structure-function relationships and evolution.
R. Fluhr, Y. Zohar, N. Lampl, H. Saboni, T. Shachar

Dynamics of alternative splicing during stress and development
R. Fluhr, Noam Leviatan

Control of protease pathways
R. Fluhr, N. Lampl, Anna Propp


G. Galili

Association of metabolism and cell biology with plant development and response to stress
G. Galili, Zevulun Elazar, Aviah Zilberstein, Rachel Amir, Yoram Kapulnik, Alisaider Fernie

  1.  Gene expression programs and metabolic networks associated with seed maturation and germination

  2.  Metabolic engineering of high-lysine plants

  3.  Genetic, genomic and bioinformatics approaches to elucidate metabolic networks in plants

  4.  Regulatory interactions between primary and secondary metabolism of plants

  5.  Cell biology and physiology of autophagy-associated processes in plants


J. Gressel

Tandem constructs to mitigate gene flow from transgenic crops to weeds
J. Gressel, Hani Al-Ahmad

Developing slow release herbicide formulations as seed dressings for Striga control in Africa
J. Gressel, Fred Kanampiu, Michael Burnet

Transgenically enhancing the virulence of fungi used as biocontrol agents
J. Gressel, Ziva Amsellem, Einat Safran, Olubukola Babalola

  1.  Designing and use of failsafe mechanisms to prevent spread and introgression

  2.  Enhancing of virulence of Fusarium spp against Orobanche

  3.  Enhancing Colletotrichum against Abutilon

  4.  Enhancing Alternaria cassae against Cassia obtusifolia

Analysis of transgene flow from wheat to related species
J. Gressel, Sarit Weissman, Prof. Moshe Feldman


A. Levy

DNA recombination and repair in plants

  1.  DNA mismatch repair and recombination between divergent sequences

  2.  Chromatin remodelling and homologous recombination

  3.  Gene targeting in plants

  4.  Meiotic recombination

Functional genomics in tomato: linking between genes and functions through mutants analysis

Genetic changes during wheat domestication
A. Levy, M. Feldman, S. Weiner

The impact of polyploidy on genome structure and expression
A. Levy, M. Feldman


R. Milo

Design principles in energy and carbon fixation

Optimality in Carbon Metabolism

Synthetic carbon fixation pathways

Environmental Sustainability Indicators


Y. Salomon

Anti-cancer treatments :

  1.  Development of novel bacteriochlorophyll-based drugs for photochemotherapy.

  2.  Boron neutron capture therapy.

Reactive oxygen species, their generation by bacteriochlorophyll and light, their role in signal transduction and mechanisms of cell and tumor destruction.

Vascular biology and vascular destruction.


A. Scherz

Quantification of atoms, groups and molecules electronegati using metal substituted bacteriochlorophylls and application to chemical reactivity.

Resolving the forces which drive membrane protein assembly.

The mechenism behind generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by illuminating novel bacteriochlorophyll derivatives and their application in photodynamic therapy (PDT) of tumors.


A. Vardi

Sensing Environmental Stress and Acclimation Strategies in Marine Algae

Cell Signaling Pathways and their role in the Chemical “Arms Race” during Algal Host-Virus and Predator-Prey interactions

The role of infochemicals and their regulation of cell fate and cell-cell interactions in marine photosynthetic microorganisms

The ecological and evolutionary role of programmed cell death in single-celled marine photosynthetic microorganisms