Plant molecular biology

Group for plant molecular biology at the Jozef Stefan Institute is dealing with the investigations on the isolation, biochemical characterisation and physiological role of cysteine proteinase inhibitors, isolated from plant and non-plant sources, as potential defence molecules directed against pathogen attack. In order to find novel inhibitors, more than twenty inhibitors were isolated and tested. Some of the candidates were selected and their cDNA clones were obtained for further incorporation into target plant genomes. Paralelly, the potential physiological role of plant cysteine proteinase inhibitors on draught stress are investigated in some legume plants. In an attempt to obtain biotechnologically important sweet-tasting protein, brazzein, we synthesised a gene, coding for brazzein, which will be expressed in appropriate expression system, and inserted into selected plat genome. Moreover, by using primary screening, we are looking in plant and fungal regnum for novel lipase inhibitors, trombin inhibitors, HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors, as well as novel antibiotic compounds, which might represent the starting compounds for further biotechnologically-important studies.