Our group is interested in signalling cascades activated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Endogenous processes in plants and various stress factors result in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

These various stress factors include but are not limited to elevated ozone, high light, heat, cold, high salt, pathogen infection and heavy metals, depending on the intensity these often lead to accumulation of ROS. High accumulation of ROS have been generally seen as detrimental; however, these molecules entail a great deal of information about metabolic processes in the chloroplast and mitochondria, and other cellular processes.

In response to these ROS, plant processes can focus on preventing the formation of these, aim to scavenge or initiate programmed cell death. How such responses come to place is of special interest to our lab. To study this we focus on perception, signalling and signal integration in response to ROS.

To discover the proteins that are involved in the response to these stresses our lab has performed (and is still in the process of performing) genetic screens using ozone as a tool to induce oxidative stress. From this screen, many interesting proteins were found and are still studied. Moreover, new proteins are being identified. Mutants such as rcd1-1, slac1-1 and ghr1-3 have previously been identified in our screening. Genetic, molecular, biochemical and microscopy approaches drive our understanding of the proteins that are involved in ROS-signaling cascades