During the last decade molecular biology and molecular genetics have strongly contributed to a better understanding of the functioning of plants and the interaction between plants and their biotic and abiotic environment. Key genes and their regulators that control plant development, plant-attacker interactions and plant metabolism have been cloned. With the rapid developments in genome sequencing and functional genomics in plants and plant-related organisms, biological questions can now be addressed that were not amenable before.

The research within this theme aims at elucidating the molecular and cellular bases of the processes that govern plant development. During the development of plants, the genetic information contained in the zygote is passed to successive generations of cells by cell division.

Plants interact with a diversity of organisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, nematodes, mites and insects. The study of interactions between plants and their attackers encompasses three interacting components: the activity of the (pathogenic) microorganism or herbivorous insect, the reaction of the plant and the influence of the (a)biotic environment.

Plants exert a central role in nature due to their extraordinary flexibility and adaptive potential which makes it possible both to produce an enormous range of primary and secondary compounds and to adapt to a wide array of adverse environmental conditions. The mechanisms that form the basis for this plant flexibility and adaptivity are investigated within this theme.

Genetic information plays a pivotal role in the (regulation of) growth and development of all organisms, includ­ing plants. Differences in genetic compo­sition have led and still lead to the (interspecific) bio­diversity in nature, and provide the (mostly intraspecific) basis for plant breeding. Genetic variation can be present at the level of the individual gene as well as at the level of the organisation of genes in chromosomal domains or even of whole chromosomes. Genetic vari­ation may affect not only the intrinsic properties of the gene product, but also the expression patterns of genes.