The group, under the longstanding leadership of Associate Professor Helena Lipavská, primarily focuses on plant sugar metabolism in relation to developmental changes and stress factors such as heavy metals, drought, and cold. Another focus of the group is the study of metabolic, developmental, and morphogenic processes across a wide range of plant species (such as spruce, transgenic potato and tobacco, plantain, and Arabidopsis) and the investigation of plant–fungal symbiont interactions within the orchid life cycle. In addition to standard cultivation techniques, the group frequently employs in vitro culture of plant explants. Currently, the laboratory is organized into three smaller teams led by:
- Petra Mašková (regulation of tuberization in potatoes, heavy metal stress);
- Hana Konrádová (somatic embryogenesis in conifers, the role of sorbitol metabolism in addressing abiotic stress); and
- Jan Ponert (plant-fungal interactions in orchids, regulation of seed dormancy).
