Plant Molecular Biology

Sunlight is of utmost importance to plants, not only as energy source but also as an environmental signal regulating growth and development. An important and increasing part of the incident sunlight encompasses a segment of the ultraviolet-B region (UV-B; 280-315 nm) that is not entirely absorbed by the ozone layer in the stratosphere of the Earth. UV-B radiation is potentially harmful for any organism exposed to it, but is also used as an informational signal for which plants have evolved specific and sensitive UV-B perception systems promoting UV-B acclimation and tolerance. Our understanding of this UV-B sensory pathway is presently limited to a small number of major players, and even less is known on their interplay, regulations and mechanisms of action. The major aim of our laboratory is a better understanding of UV-B perception and signalling in plants that leads to UV-B acclimation and survival.

• Plant photoreceptors and their signaling components compete for COP1 binding via VP peptide motifs
  Lau, K; Podolec, R; Chappuis, R; Ulm, R; Hothorn, M
  EMBO JOURNAL, 38 (18):10.15252/embj.2019102140 SEP 16 2019
• Arabidopsis RUP2 represses UVR8-mediated flowering in noninductive photoperiods
  Arongaus, AB; Chen, S; Pireyre, M; Glockner, N; Galvao, VC; Albert, A; Winkler, JB; Fankhauser, C; Harter, K; Ulm, R
  GENES & DEVELOPMENT, 32 (19-20):1332-1343; 10.1101/gad.318592.118 OCT 1 2018
• Photoreceptor-mediated regulation of the COP1-SPA E3 ubiquitin ligase complex
  Podolec, Roman and Ulm, Roman
  Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 45: 18-25, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2018.04.018 MAY 2018
• Coping with 'Dark Sides of the Sun' through Photoreceptor Signaling 
  Demarsy, Emilie; Goldschmidt-Clermont, Michel; Ulm, Roman 
  TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 23 (3):260-271; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2017.11.007 MAR 2018
• Perception of sunflecks by the UV-B photoreceptor UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8
  Victoria Moriconi, Melanie Binkert, María Cecilia Costigliolo Rojas, Romina Sellaro, Roman Ulm, Jorge Jose Casal
  Plant Physiology, https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.18.00048
• How plants cope with UV-B: from perception to response 
  Yin, Ruohe; Ulm, Roman 
  CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY, 37: 42-48, 10.1016/j.pbi.2017.03.013   JUN 2017 
• Expression of the UVR8 photoreceptor in different tissues reveals tissue-autonomous features of UV-B signalling 
  Bernula, Peter; Crocco, Carlos Daniel; Arongaus, Adriana Beatriz; et al. 
  PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT, 40 (7): 1104-1114, 10.1111/pce.12904 JUL 2017
  
  

• UV-B response
• Photomorphogenesis
• MAP kinase phosphatases
• Abiotic stress responses

• Photobiology
• Environmental stress signalling