People
Birtić, Simona
| Job Title | Scientific officer |
|---|---|
| Department | Seed Conservation |
| Section | Research |
| Science Teams | |
| Joined Kew | 2002 |
| Foreign Language(s) | Croatian (mother tongue), French, Russian |
Qualifications & Appointments
Diplôme d’ingénieur (MSc equivalent), Ecole de Biologie Industrielle, France, 2001
MSc, Environmental diagnostics, Cranfield Univ., 2001.
Role
Biochemical and molecular studies with the aim to develop diagnostic markers of seed quality.
Biochemical pathways of Programmed Cell Death (PCD) in seeds to regulate tissue homeostasis and to eliminate redundant cells that have lost viability during storage, or are unable to complete normal tissue development upon seed germination: biochemical and molecular control of PCD (DNA and RNA degradation); cyto-morphological changes (cleavage of the cytoskeleton, opening of mitochondrial pores); gene expression and orchestration of PCD by thiols; involvement of a caspase-like machinery in seed PCD; antioxidants in ageing seeds. Plant hormones and seed quality: Involvement of abscisic acid (ABA) and its precursors and ABA-related pathways in seed desiccation and dormancy.
Projects
Establishing the Use of Metabolomics / Genomics to Identify Diagnostic Markers of Seed Quality
Oxidative Stress and Death Phenomena
Programmed Cell Death in Seeds
Seed Viability and Ageing Defined by Glutathione Redox Potential
Theme: Diagnosis of Viability and Germination
Theme: Genetics and Chemical Traits
Selected Publications 2001-2005
Kranner, I. & Birtić, S. (2005). A modulating role for antioxidants in desiccation tolerance. Integrative and Comparative Biology 45: 734-740.