Zsuzsanna MERAI
Senior Postdoc
Group Dolan
Contact
Email: zsuzsanna.merai(at)gmi.oeaw.ac.at
Telephone: +43 1 79044/9831
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2048-1628
FORMER AND CURRENT POSITIONS
since 2024 - Postdoctoral Fellow in the Dolan Group at the GMI
Formerly: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Mittelsten Scheid Group at the GMI
Formerly: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Tamaru Group at the GMI
Formerly: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Schafer Group (Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany)
2010 - PhD at Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, Hungary
2003 - MSc at Szent István University, Institute of Horticultural Plant Biology, Hungary
Academic Honors and Awards
NKFIH-FWF Joint Research Projects (2019-2023)
Marie Curie Intra-European fellowship (2010)
EMBO short term fellowship (2008)
Research Projects
Aethionema arabicum: a novel model to study light-regulated seed germination
Besides photosynthesis, light has an important role in plant development, including seed germination. Seeds are classified into three categories based on their response to white light during germination: (I) seeds that require light to germinate; (II) seeds that germinate with or without light, and (III) seeds whose germination is inhibited by light. The seeds of the widely used laboratory plant Arabidopsis thaliana belong to the first category; they need a minimum of light to germinate, and the molecular mechanism of light-induced germination was intensively studied. In contrast, we know very little about the light inhibition of germination. A remarkable natural variation observed in Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae), a relative of Arabidopsis, will allow filling this gap. Seeds of one accession originating from Turkey (TUR) are light-insensitive (category II), whereas seeds of another accession from Cyprus (CYP) do not germinate in the light (category III), although the two accessions are genetically very similar. Interestingly, the germination of CYP seeds is not just temporarily inhibited by the light: extended light exposure results in a “memory” effect that prevents germination for a long period even if seeds are transferred back to the favorable dark condition (secondary dormancy). We hypothesize, that the light inhibited germination is a day-length sensing mechanism to ensure the proper timing of germination in early spring.
In the frame of the NKFIH-FWF Joint Research Project, we would like to understand the photobiological aspects and the molecular mechanism of light-inhibited and light-insensitive germination. We also investigate the light-induced secondary seed dormancy and its occurrence in the Aethionemeae genus as an adaptation to the local environment.
Research interests
The classical model Arabidopsis thaliana has been a wonderful tool since decades to understand the basic molecular processes in plants. However, different plants use a wide variety of strategies to ensure their survival and propagation in various, often challenging habitats. Studying how the same molecular modules can be rewired resulting in an opposite response to the same environmental input might be a key in the battle against climate change.