Welcome on website of Martin Fellner

Laboratory of Molecular Physiology

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MARTIN FELLNER

Research

Martin Fellner received a M.Sc. degree from the Palacky University in Olomouc, where he worked on the investigation of insect reactions to various parts of electromagnetic radiation. His scientific career has started at the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Science. From T-DNA mutant lines he isolated and analyzed auxin-response mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana to earn his Ph.D. at University of Paris XI in the lab of Prof. Jean Guern in CNRS (France). His post-doctoral studies on involvement of plant hormones in mechanisms of genic male sterility in tomato Lycopersicon esculentum and on the study of interaction between abscisic acid and light signaling were conducted in the laboratory of Prof. Vipen K. Sawhney in Department of Biology at the University of Saskatechewan in Saskatoon (Canada). During his second post-doctoral position at the University of Washington in Seattle (USA) he studied interaction between light and hormone signaling in growth and development of corn leaves in the laboratory of Prof. Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh at the Department of Biology. After returning to home country he continues to work for the Institute of Experimental Botany. In addition, he got a position in Palacky University in Olomouc.

The Dr. Fellner's lab of Molecular Physiology at the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics has been set up in spring 2005. Research in the lab resolves around the idea that a greater understanding of cross-talk between hormone and light signaling pathways will provide new insights into complex processes of plant growth and development. As a genetic approach, mutant collections are used including Arabidopsis, tomato and maize. For example, tomato mutant 7B-1 resistant to salt and osmotic stress specifically under blue light is an excellent plant model to study links among photomorphogenesis and plant ability to withstand stress conditions, and provides a possibility to reveal a new element(s) implicated in light and stress signaling pathways. Current research supported by EU and Czech Ministry of Education is further focused on understanding of role of auxin-binding proteins and/or vacuolar transport equipment in development of leaf angle in Zea maize. In the course of these studies, the Fellner's lab uses techniques in plant physiology, genetics, and molecular biology.

Teaching

From 2005, Dr. Fellner teaches lectures of Plant Physiology, Plant Molecular Biology, and Molecular Physiology. He is also responsible for four special seminars. The classes take 78 hours in the winter semester and 52 hours in the summer semester.