Plant meiosis under stress

Alterations in environmental conditions, especially extreme temperatures, have a huge impact on multiple meiosis processes in plants, including meiotic recombination, formation and organization of cytoskeleton networks, and chromosome segregation, which consequently lead to altered genetic makeup and/or production of inviable gametes, and thus plant sterility. In addition to temperature, some other environmental factors like UV, can also affect one or more processes during meiosis in plants. Despite its importance for food security and plant evolution, the mechanism underlying the response and/or tolerance of meiosis to abiotic stresses is poorly understood. We have special interests to study the response of meiosis and genome stability to environmental abiotic stresses and the involved genetic mechanisms in plants.