The main goal of the Lieberman-Lazarovich lab is to study the molecular response of crop plants to abiotic stresses and promote the development of stress-resilient crop varieties. Specifically, the lab aims to elucidate the molecular factors that underlie the response to heat stress in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), an important vegetable crop and genetic model in which high growth temperatures lead to physiological alternations and a considerable yield loss. The lab is also interested in the involvement of epigenetic factors (mainly DNA 5`-cytosine methylation) in stress responses and their contribution to phenotypic variation and heritability.
The group has established expertise in various aspects of abiotic stress responses in plants, mainly in the characterization of reproductive performance under heat stress conditions, including specific analyses of pollen characteristics, the most stress-sensitive organ. In that sense, we introduced a new FACS methodology in the Plant Sciences Institute for pollen high-throughput flow cytometry. We expanded our pollen analysis beyond tomato and collaborated in pollen analyses in Pepper, Cacao, and Melon.
We combine physiological, developmental, and molecular tools to address these intriguing questions and promote food security in times of climate change.
Publications:
https://scholar.google.co.il/citations?user=8JON6SgAAAAJ&hl=iw
