Researcher / Enterprise
Profile Form
Date 2007 03
25
Valid until: 2008
01
17
CONTACT DETAILS
Organisation
Volcani Center
Department Ornamental Horticulture
Contact person
Dr. Hinanit Koltai
Male/female Female
Address
POB 6
Email
hkoltai@agri.gov.il
Postcode
50250
Fax
972-3-9669583
City
Bet Dagan
Telephone
972-3-9683039
Country
Israel
Website
http://www.agri.gov.il/People/Hi
nanit_Koltai.html
ORGANISATION TYPE
Research
organisation
type
Research Organisation
Is your company a Small
and Medium Sized
Enterprise ( SME* )?
YES
NO
Company
Number of employees:
Other
* Your enterprise is an SME if:
-it has less than 250 employees
-it has either an annual turnover not exceeding €50M, or an annual balance sheet total not over €43M
-it is less than 25% owned by a non SME (unless these are financial investors, such as banks or venture capitalists
Researcher / Enterprise
Profile Form
General description of research activity:
Species diversity studies and cross-species microarray hybridization, development of tools for
derivation of valid knowledge from cross-species microarray hybridizations.
Flower development- molecular mechanisms in an evolutionary perspective- diversity in
ornamental species. Control of flowering time in ornamental plants.
The biological role of expansins- plant cell wall expansion during plant development
Mycorrhiza for growth enhancement
The research in my lab is focused mainly on 4 subjects:
1. Development of tools for study of species diversity by cross-species hybridization to
microarrays. This study uses bioinformatics tool to allow extraction of valid knowledge from
cross-species hybridization to microarrays, to allow an almost unlimited study of multiple
species. This is applicable for cases in which no genomic data is available for the studied
species, for cases in which sufficient genomic data is available for the studied species and also
for studies of species diversity.
2. Control of flowering in non-model ornamental plants: we are derived by the hypothesis that
some of the mechanisms of response to the environment by flowering may be different between
different plant species. Hence we are characterizing the mechanism of response to growth
temperature in a variety of ornamental species, for both evolutionary perspective on flowering
control and improvement of Agricultural growth protocols.
3. Plant cell wall expansion: Expansin family members, although possessing high level of
sequence similarity, may fulfil diverse biological roles by controlling plant cell wall expansion.
We are studying the role of expansins in multiple plant species, in order to answer the questions
of expansin function-structure association and expansin functional diversification. This may be
of great importance when improvement of traits is sought: the "right" expansin should be
expressed at the right time and the right place.
4. Application of mycorrhiza to ornamental crops, for enhancement of crop establishment and
growth.
Former participation in
an FP European
project?
Project title / Acronym:
Activities performed:
YES
NO
Researcher / Enterprise
Profile Form
FP7 PROJECT
Title:
Acronym:
Project type
Large Collaborative
Project
Network of
Excellence
Small
Collaborative Project
Other:
Status
planned for
submission
Call references
Call 2A: FP7-KBBE-2007-2A
Priorities’ Main
Research Areas
Activity 2.1: Sustainable production and management of biological resources
from land, forest and aquatic environments
Area 2.1.1 Enabling Research
Workprogramme
Topic
KBBE-2007-1-1-03: Development of genetic
improvement through a systems biology approach
running EU project
systems
for
crop
EXPERTISE/COMMITMENT OFFERED
Keywords specifying the
expertise:
Plant genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, expression profiles,
diversity, control of flowering, non-model species, plant cell-wall,
expansin
Description of the
expertise:
Technical expertise: Plant genomics, expression profiles, cross-species
microarray hybridization, bioinformatics, data mining, Molecular
biology tools
Biological expertise: Control of flowering in non-model ornamental
plants; Plant cell wall expansion: Expansin family members.
Commitment offered
Term commitment
Research
Demonstration
Training
Technology
Dissemination
Other:
Short (< 1 year)
Medium (1 to 3 years)
Long (more than 3 years)