Prof. Naomi Ori

Research Interest

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the wondrous and unique characteristics of plant development is the ability to produce organs throughout life and flexibly react to internal and external cues. Two plants, even if genetically identical, are different in the number and form of their organs. In the Ori group, we are interested in the mechanisms that underlie the plasticity of plant development and patterning.

Leaf development beautifully exemplifies developmental plasticity, leading to enormous variability in shape and size, which is particularly evident in compound leaves. In addition, the leaf is relatively tolerant to developmental aberrations, making it an attractive system to study developmental principles. We study compound leaf, flower and fruit development in tomato using genetic, developmental and molecular tools.

 

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Major Projects

  1. The balance between morphogenesis, growth and differentiation in leaf development, and the interaction between transcription factors and hormones in regulating this balance.
  2. Patterning of the leaf margin: Differential growth at the leaf margins enables enormous variability of leaf shape. We investigate the regulators of leaf patterning. Specifically, we investigate the role of auxin and its regulators in leaf patterning.
  3. Regulation of fruit set in tomato.

 

List of Publications

  • Bar M, Israeli A, Levy M, Ben-gera H, Jiménez-Gómez J, Kouril S, Tarkowski P, Ori N. (2016). CLAUSA is a MYB Transcription Factor that Promotes Leaf Differentiation by Attenuating Cytokinin Signaling. The Plant Cell. Jul;pii: tpc.00211.2016.
  • Shwartz I, Levy M, Ori N, Bar M. Hormones in tomato leaf development. (2016). Developmental Biology. Jun;pii:S0012-1606(16)30107-5.
  • Ben-Gera H, Dafna A, Alvarez JP, Bar M, Mauerer M, Ori N. Auxin-mediated lamina growth in tomato leaves is restricted by two parallel mechanisms. (2016). The Plant Journal. Jun;86(6):443-57.
  • Bar M, Ben-Herzel O, Kohay H, Shtein I, Ori N. (2015). CLAUSA restricts tomato leaf morphogenesis and GOBLET expression. The Plant Journal. Sep;83(5):888-902.
  • Bar M, Ori N. (2015). Compound leaf development in model plant species. Current Opinion Plant Biology. Feb;23:61-9.
  • Bar M, Ori N. (2014). Leaf development and morphogenesis. Development. Nov;141(22):4219-30.
  • Burko Y, Shleizer-Burko S, Yanai O, Shwartz I, Zelnik ID, Jacob-Hirsch J, Kela I, Eshed-Williams L, Ori N. (2013). A role for APETALA1/fruitfull transcription factors in tomato leaf development. The Plant Cell. Jun;25(6):2070-83.
  • Burko Y, Ori N. (2013). The tomato leaf as a model system for organogenesis. Methods in molecular biology. 959:1-19.
  • Ben-Gera H, Ori N. (2012). Auxin and LANCEOLATE affect leaf shape in tomato via different developmental processes. Plant signaling & behavior. Oct 1;7(10):1255-7.
  • Ben Gera, H. , Shwartz, I., Shao, M. R., Shani, E., Estelle, M. and Ori, N. (2012). ENTIRE and GOBLET promote leaflet development in tomato by modulating auxin response. Plant J., in press.
  • Yanai, O., Shani., E., Russ, D. and Ori, N. (2011). Gibberellin partly mediates LANCEOLATE activity in tomato. Plant J. 68, 571-582.
  • Burko, Y., Geva, Y., Refael-Cohen, A., Shleizer-Burko, S., Shani, E., Berger, Y., Halon, E., Chuck, G., Moshelion, M. and Ori, N. (2011). ZRIZI MATE-type transporter is an organelle transporter that enhances organ initiation. Plant and Cell Physiology, 52, 518-527.
  • Shleizer-Burko, S., Burko, Y., Ben-Herzel, O. and Ori, N. (2011). Dynamic growth program regulated by LANCEOLATE enables flexible leaf patterning. Development 138,695-704.
  • Shani, E., Ben-Gera, H., Shleizer-Burko, S., Burko, Y., Weiss, D. and Ori, N. (2010). Cytokinin regulates compound leaf development in tomato. Plant Cell 22, 3206-3217
  • Shani, E., Burko, Y., Ben-Yaakov, L., Berger, Y., Amsellem, Z., Goldshmidt, A., Sharon, E. and Ori, N. (2009). Stage specific regulation of Solanum lycopersicum leaf maturation by class 1 KNOTTED1-LIKE HOMEOBOX proteins. Plant Cell 21, 3078-3092.
  • Berger, Y., Harpaz – Saad, S., Brand, A., Melnik, H., Sirding, N., Alvarez, J.P., Zinder, M., Samach, A., Eshed, Y., and Ori, N. (2009). The NAC-domain transcription factor GOBLET specifies leaflet boundaries in compound tomato leaves. Development, 136, 823-832.
  • Brand, A., Sirding, N., Shleizer, S. and Ori, N. (2007) Meristem maintenance and compound leaf patterning utilize common genetic mechanisms in tomato. Planta, 226, 941-951.
  • Ori, N., Refael-Cohen, A., Etzioni, A., Brand, A., Yanai, O., Shleizer, S., Menda, N., Amsellem, Z., Efroni, I., Pekker, I., Alvarez, J.P., Blum, E., Zamir, D. and Eshed, Y. (2007). Regulation of LANCEOLATE by miR319 is required for compound-leaf development in tomato. Nature Genetics, 39, 787 – 791.
  • Shani, E., Yanai, O. and Ori N. (2006). The role of hormones in shoot apical meristem function. Curr. Opin. Plant Biology 9, 484-489.
  • Yanai, O., Shani, E., Doezal, K., Tarkowski, P., Sablowski, R., Sandberg, G., Samach, A., and Ori, N. (2005). Arabidopsis KNOXI proteins activate cytokinin biosynthesis. Current Biology 15, 1566-1571.
  • Ori, N., Eshed, Y., Chuck, G. Bowman, J. L. and Hake, S. (2000). Mechanisms that control knox gene expression in the Arabidopsis shoot. Development 127, 5523-5532.

 

Lab Members

Neta Kovetz

neta.kovetz@mail.huji.ac.il 
Current B.S. student in Plant Biology.

Matan Levy

matan.levy1@mail.huji.ac.il
Graduate Student.

Asaf Dafna

asafdafna@gmail.com
M.Sc. student

Alon Israeli

alonisaraeli2@gmail.com
M.Sc. student

Ido Shwartz

Graduate Student

Ido.shwartz@mail.huji.ac.il

Maya Bar

Postdoc

 

 

Former Students:

Sharona Shliezer-Burko

Yogev Burko

Roi Zibsner

Hadas Ben-Gera

Shiri Goldental

Eilon Shani

Aya Refael-Cohen

Osnat Yanai

Yael Berger

Neti Sirding

Arnon Brand

Adi Etzioni

Hanoch Glesner

Lilach Ben Yaakov

Ori Ben-Herzel