Fields of Scientific Interest:

• Fruit growth and development
• Fruit quality
  
• Flowering control
• Practical aspects of citriculture

Current Research Projects:

• Understanding the molecular-physiological mechanisms involved in citric acid accumulation and decline in citrus fruit. More details about this project.
  
• Alternate bearing and flowering control. More details about this project.
• Understanding the role of Cl111, a newly identified gene specifically expressed in the ovaries, stamen and juice sacs, and analysis of its promoter. More details about this project.
• Photoselective nets in citriculture. More details about this project.
• Plastic mulches in the orchard. More details about this project.

Current Lab Members and Their Projects

Engineers/ Technicians

Ludmila Schlizerman , Ms.C., Laboratory Research Engineer, Fruit acidity and Citrus flowering

Naftali Zur , Field Technician, Photoselective nets and plastic mulches in the orchard

Students

Bayissa Hatew , Ph.D. student, Fruit acidity, citrate metabolism

Samuel Kalderon , M.Sc. Student, Cl111 homologs in Arabidopsis

Ifat Bar-Haim , M.Sc. Student, The function of Cl111

  Aswaf Degu , M.Sc. Student, Fruit acidity, citrate metabolism

Liron Shalom , M.Sc. Student, Alternate bearing

Past Lab Members

• Dr. Ran Kapri, Ph.D. Student
• Dr. Ken Marsh, Visiting Scientist
• Dr. Ming Dong, Visiting Scholar
• Dr. Sham Prakash, Pot Doctoral Fellow
• Mr. Gabriel Bardosh, M.Sc. Student
• Ms. Alina Sorkina, M.Sc. Student
• Mrs. Ravit Goldberg-Moeller, M.Sc. Student
• Mr. Adi Mondshein, M.Sc. Student
• Mr. Yishai Wachsmann, M.Sc. Student
• Mrs. Esther Dahan, Lab Technichian
• Dr. Puneet Dhwan, Visiting Scholar

Partial List of Publications

Bardosh G, Sorkina A, Schlizerman L, Zur N, Or E, Blumwald E, Sadka A (2008) Ovary- and pulp-specific promoter from citrus is active in tomato reproductive organs and fruit. Accepted (with revisions) to Transgenic Research.

Halaly T, Pang X, Batiko T, Crane O, Keren A, · Venkateswari J, Ogrodovitch A, Sadka A, Lavee S, Or E (2008). Similar mechanisms might be triggered by alternative external stimuli that induce dormancy release in grape buds. Planta, in press.

Katz E, Fon M, Lee YJ, Phinney BS, Sadka A, Blumwald E. The citrus fruit proteome: insights into citrus fruit metabolism. Planta 226, 989-1005. PDF

Schlizerman, L., Marsh, K., Blumwald, E. and Sadka, A. (2007). Iron limitation induces citric acid accumulation and reduces cytosolic aconitase activity in citrus. Physiol Plantarum 131, 72-79. PDF

Shimada, T., Nakano, R., Shulaev, V., Sadka, A. and Blumwald, E. (2006).Vacuolar citrate/H+ symporter of citrus juice cells. Planta 224, 472-480.

Sadka, A., Dahan, E., Marsh, K.B. and Varghese, G. (2002). Citric acid metabolism: aconitase activity and iron homeostasis. Proc. Inter. Soc. Citriculture IX Congress, 644-666.

Kapri, R., Goren, R., Zeavi, U. and Sadka, A. (2002). The regulation of PPi- phosphofructokinase (PFP) during Citrus fruit development. Proc. Inter. Soc. Citriculture.IX Congress, 683-684.

Azachi, M., Sadka, A., Fisher, M., Goldshag, P., Gokhman, I., Zamir, A. (2002). Salt-induction of fatty acid elongase and membrane lipid modifications in the extreme halotolerant alga Dunaliella salina. Plant Physiol., 129, 1320-1329.

Sadka A., Dahan, E., Or E., Roose, M.L. and Cohen, L. (2001). A comparative analysis of mitochondrial citrate synthase gene structure, transcript level and enzymatic activity in low- and high-acid citrus varieties. Austral. J. Plant Physiol. 28: 383-390.

Tang, Z., Sadka A., Morishige, D.T., Mullet, J.E. (2001). Homeodomain leucine zipper proteins bind to the phosphate response domain of the soybean VspB tripartite promoter. Plant Physiol. 125, 797-809.

Sadka A., Dahan, E., Hasdai, D., Zur, N., Shptsisky S. (2001). Iron treatments and citrus fruit acidity. Alon Hanotea 55, 264-266 (In Hebrew).

Sadka A., Erner, Y., Dahan E., Cohen, L., Chemo, M., tagari, E., Zur, N., Shapzisky, S., Mohel, E. (2001). Citrus fruit acidity. Alon Hanota 7, 331-334 (In Hebrew).

Sadka A., Dahan E., Cohen L and Marsh K.B. (2000). Aconitase activity and expression during the development of lemon fruit. Physiol. Plant. 108: 255-262.

Sadka A., Artzi, B., Cohen L., Dahan E., Hasdai D., Tagari E. and Erner Y. (2000). Arsenite reduces acid content in citrus fruit, inhibits activity of citrate synthase but induces its gene expression. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 125: 288-293.

A. Sadka, Dahan, E., Or, E. and Cohen, L. (2000). NADP+-isocitrate dehydrogenase gene expression and isozyme activity during citrus fruit development. Plant Sci. 158, 173-181.

E. Or, J. Bayik, A. Sadka and A. Ogrodovitch (2000). Fermentative metabolism in grape berries: isolation and characterization of pyruvate decarboxylase cDNA and analysis of its expression throughout berry development. Plant Sci. 156, 151-158.

R. Kapri, E. Dahan, U. Zehavi, R. Goren and A. Sadka (2000). Cloning and characterization of PPi-phosphofructokinase from citrus fruit. Acta Horticult. 535, 113-115.

Or, E., Baybik, J., Sadka, A. and Sacks, Y. (2000). Malate metabolism in the grape berry: isolation of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase cDNA clones from grape berries; and expression pattern of malate dehydrogenase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and malic enzyme throughout berry development. J. Plant Physiol. 157: 527-534

M. Reuveni and A. Sadka (2000). Isolation of vacuolar H+-ATPase subunit E cDNA from juice sacs of Citrus limon (Accession No. AF165939). Plant Physiol. 122: 129.

E. Or, J. Baybik, S. Lavee, A. Sadka and A. Ogredovitch (2000) Isolation and characterization of two cDNA clones (Accession No. AS195866 and AS195867) encoding alcohol dehydrogenase from grape (Vitis vinifera cv. Perlette) from developing fruits. Plant Physiol. In Press