Katalin Solymosi

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A Schopenhauer

’Research is to see what everybody has seen and think what nobody has thought.’
Arthur Schopenhauer

But why actually plastids?

While discussing plastids most of us automatically think about chloroplasts and probably also associate them with photosynthesis. The production of organic materials and oxygen via photosynthesis in photoautotrophs undeniably represents the basis for life on Earth. However, plastids have a tremendous genetic, metabolic, structural and morphological diversity and developmental and functional flexibility or plasticity (this is why the term ’plastid’ was coined for them). Several metabolites produced by plastids are used by the (food) industry or medicine. Therefore, plastids truly represent a very colourful, diverse and challenging research topic. Contents of this homepage may provide an insight into this area including my works related to the biosynthesis of photosynthetic membranes and pigments (the latter often used as natural food colourants); to the great variety of economically and medicinally important natural compounds derived from plastids (i.e. fatty acids, vitamins B₁, B₂, B₃, B₉, E and K₁, condensed tannins, terpenoids like e.g. monoterpene essential oils); special intermediary (transient) plastid types and peculiar plastid structural features; the effect of various abiotic and biotic stressors on plastid structure and function; the elucidation of the role of thylakoid located ion channels in fighting salt stress. If you are interested, please continue reading or contact me for eventual thesis supervision/open positions.

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