Recognizing Plant Cell authors: Jitka Ortmannová

Jitka Ortmannová, co-first author of Synergy among exocyst and SNARE interactions identifies a functional hierarchy in secretion during vegetative growth

Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Education: PhD: Dept of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, CZ; MSc: Dept of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, CZ; BSc: Dept of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, CZ

Non-scientific Interests: hiking, baking, whisky tasting

Brief bio: From the very beginning of my studies, I have been interested in the plant cell endomembrane trafficking system. I studied with Prof. Viktor Žárský for my master and doctoral degrees, where I was also co-supervised by M. Fendrych, PhdD; I. Kulich, PhD; T. Pečenková, Csc.; and M. Potocký, PhD. My main focus was investigating the role of vesicle fusion and secretion in plant immunity. Autophagy was constantly crossing my research output and I started to incorporate this pathway into my research to ask if it can act as a cell death initiator in immunity. After finishing my PhD, I began working with Prof. D. Hofius, who is an expert in autophagy in plant immunity. As a member of his lab group, I would like to extend my knowledge of vesicular regulation of cell death, improve my technical and management skills, and learn how to be a good mentor.