Sugars function as signalling molecules that promote plant growth, development and reproduction. For over 20 years, my laboratory has been studying sugar signalling mechanisms and found that sugar induced signals are crucial licensing factors for plant growth. In the absence of such sugar signals growth ceases, even when sugars are abundant. Significant progress has been made in identifying regulatory systems that link sugar signals to growth as defined by cell division and cell elongation. Such sugar signals must act in concert with plant developmental programmes to link growth to plant architecture and yield. Current research focuses on sugar regulated S1 group bZIP transcription factors that are major regulators of metabolism.
Company Members oversee all aspects of the ownership, support and operation of the Company itself and of its five published titles Annals of Botany, AoB PLANTS, in silico Plants, BotanyOne, and The Week in Botany.
Office Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, 3584CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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