Research Interest

Research in the Mosquna lab is focused on plants response to environmental stress; we are interested in the apex of abscisic acid (ABA) signal transduction pathway and related cellular/physiological stress response. In addition we are kin to discover novel plant hormones and growth regulators, by an unbiased approach monitoring plant small molecule-protein interactions. Study of this regulatory scaffold is expected to be of long-term benefit to biotechnology and lead to innovations in agriculture.

My lab is the Plant Sensing Laboratory.

We use a collection of Remote and Proximal Sensing techniques and scales in the open field as well as more controlled environments, to obtain non-destructive data and imagery. A variety of techniques including Machine Learning and Image Processing are implemented.

The ability to nondestructively assess plant traits is explored and used to detect a-biotic and biotic stresses, predict yield and assess plant phenology among other applications.

As our lab was only recently established, on July 2012, 
we are looking for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students.

 
Please contact us for more details.

The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR)
http://www.arabidopsis.org/ 

The Salk Institute Genomic Analysis Laboratory (SIGNAL) for the identification of insertion mutants and cloned genes of interest 
http://signal.salk.edu/ (T-DNA Express) 

The BAR Arabidopsis eFP browser (University of Toronto) for exploring gene expression pattern 
http://bar.utoronto.ca/efp/cgi-bin/efpWeb.cgi 

• Harpaz-Saad, S., Western, T.L. and Kieber, J.J. (2012). 
  The FEI2-SOS5 pathway and CELLULOSE SYNTHASE 5 are required for cellulose biosynthesis in the Arabidopsis seed coat and affect pectin mucilage structure. Plant Signaling and Behavior, 7:285-288.
• Harpaz-Saad, S., Yoon, G. M., Mattoo, A. K., and Kieber , J. J. (2012). 
  The Formation of ACC and Competition Between Polyamines and Ethylene for SAM. Annual Plant Reviews 44: 53–81.

The mechanism employed in the regulation of cellulose biosynthesis

Plant Cell wall plays a major role in determining plants architecture and plant’s adaptation to different stresses.

Plant cell wall is composed mainly from polysaccharides, proteins and phenolic compounds. The cell wall polysaccharides have immense economic importance as they are central players in determining the mechanical and textural properties of food, wood, paper and textile fibers. Moreover, they serve as major source for the emerging industry of biofuels for renewable energy.