Oxidative Stress Responses in Plants

Frank Van Breusegem is since 2001 group leader of the Oxidative Stress Signaling group at the VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology and full professor at Ghent University. Since his early studies under the supervision of em. Prof. Marc Van Montagu, he focuses on the molecular impact of oxidative stress on plant cells. He obtained his PhD from Ghent University (Ghent, 1997) with work on “Engineering Stress Tolerance in Maize. Nowadays, the primary objective of the Van Breusegem lab is still the identification and functional analysis of regulatory gene and protein networks involved in the oxidative stress response in plants. Ultimately, he aims to translate this knowledge into biotechnological crop efficiency concepts. The lab has played a pioneering role in determining H2O2 dependent molecular and physiological responses in plants. The Van Breusegem lab is internationally recognized mainly because of its successful multi-omics driven approaches that allowed to identify several key targets in the oxidative stress response. Frank Van Breusegem has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications (h index=67), is a frequent invited speaker and is monitoring editor of the leading plant journal “Plant Physiology.

Ron Mittler is a Professor in the Division of Plant Sciences and Technology and in the Department of Surgery, and a Bond Life Sciences Center Investigator, at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA in 1993. His research is focused on reactive oxygen species metabolism and signaling in plant and animal cells, systemic responses of plants to stress, cancer biology, and stress combination. He discovered the ROS wave and pioneered research on stress combination in plants. Ron Mittler published over 180 peer-reviewed publications (h index=92) and is a Biochemistry Subject Editor in Physiologia Plantarum, an Advisory Editorial Board member in Trends in Plant Science, and an Editor in The Plant Journal.