The Cytoskeleton Diverse Roles in a Plant’s Life

Vaidurya Pratap Sahi  is a researcher at the Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory, Botanical Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. He completed his BSc in Agricultural Sciences at Sam Higginbotton University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, India, followed by an MSc in Plant Breeding and Genetics at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India. Supported by a Monbukagakusho fellowship (MEXT), he completed his PhD in Molecular Biology at Ehime University, Japan in 2012. Presently he is working in the field of plant cell biology to understand the role of actin and microtubules in the development of rice plants. His interests include Plant Signaling, Plant Intelligence, Utilization of Landraces of Crops and History of Plant Biology. He is a member of the editorial team of the journal Plant Signaling & Behaviour. He also serves as an ambassador for the Society of Experimental Biology, UK.

František Baluška is alecturer and researcher at the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany at Bonn University, Germany. He obtained the Full Professor title at the Comenius University Bratislava (Slovakia) in 2008. His main interest is plant cell biology, especially root apices, as related to the cytoskeleton, endocytosis, vesicle trafficking and polarity. He has investigated root apices for more than twenty years, and made original contribution to the root apex organization by the discovery of a transition zone interpolated between the apical meristem and the rapid cell elongation region. František Baluška is also interested in the response of roots to environmental factors such as gravity, as well as in the emerging field of plant neurobiology. Finally, he is interested in the conceptual analysis of the cell theory. He published more than eighty research papers and edited several books. In 2005, he initiated the Plant Neurobiology Society which annualy organizes international symposia on plant neurobiology. František Baluška founded and acts as Editor-in-Chief for two journals: Plant Signaling & Behavior and Communicative & Integrative Biology.