Professor Avraham A. Levy Incumbent of the Gilbert de Botton chair in Plant Sciences
	Avraham A. Levy, Ph.D. Professor of Genetics Department of Plant Sciences Weizmann Institute of Science P.O.B. 26 Rehovot 76100, Israel Telephone: (+972-8) 9342734 Fax: (+972-8) 934-4181 avi.levy@weizmann.ac.il

The Levy laboratory is interested in understanding how species evolve. Evolution has generated hundreds of thousands of plant species, compared to only a few thousand mammals. Our research focuses on the molecular mechanisms responsible for the plasticity and biodiversity seen in the plant kingdom. This includes the mechanisms of homologous recombination and transposition, and the role of hybridization and polyploidization on evolution. We also study wheat evolution under domestication.

The laboratory is also interested in applications derived from our basic research. For example, we are developing new tools for functional genomics and biotechnology in plants such as gene targeting and transposon-mutagenesis. We are isolating new traits from wild wheat, such as low lignin content to exploit wheat straw as a feedstock for biofuel production.