EMBO Member
Christian Fankhauser
EMBO 2025
Former EMBO Young Investigator (2001)
University, Lausanne, Switzerland
Photoreceptor-mediated development in plants
We study the mechanisms by which light cues indicative of crowding shape plant growth and development. Phytochrome photoreceptors sense these cues and regulate the transcriptional response elicited by Phytochrome Interacting Factors (PIFs). Shade cues also enhance phototropism, a response triggered by the blue-light sensing phototropins. Phototropin signalling is the second major research axis of the lab. We primarily use Arabidopsis thaliana.
Keywords
plant photoreceptors / phytochromes / phototropins / shade avoidance response / signal transduction / transcriptional response / Arabidopsis