Recognizing Plant Cell first authors: Ramona Schubert

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Ramona Schubert, first author of Tomato MYB21 acts in ovules as mediator of jasmonate-regulated fertility

Current Position: Scientific Co-worker, Department of Cell and Metabolic Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle/Saale, Germany

Education: PhD student in Molecular Plant Physiology (2014 – 2018), Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry Halle/Saale; M.S. in Biology (2013), Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg

Non-scientific Interests: Nature Conservation, Apes; Polish culture and language; travelling

Brief bio: Before I started my scientific career, I wished to gain life experiences abroad and did first a short voluntary service on a farm in Ireland and afterwards a 6-month European Voluntary Service in an integration school in Poland. At the end of my Biology studies, I joined Prof. Bettina Hause´s group and did my master´s thesis investigating the role of oxylipins in the regulation of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza after leaf wounding in tomato. Since this widespread symbiosis fascinated me, I earned a Leonardo-da-Vinci fellowship allowing follow up research in Dr. Maria J. Pozo´s lab in Granada (Spain) to explore the effect of herbivory on systemic defense responses and mycorrhization in tomato. I became more and more interested in interactions between different organisms and did a 3-month internship at the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Science in Bialowieza (Poland) to analyze the influence of big herbivores on forest regeneration. Starting my PhD back in Prof. Bettina Hause´s lab I changed my main research focus and investigated with pleasure jasmonic acid-dependent processes in reproductive tissues of tomato with a special emphasis on the characterization of the transcription factor MYB21 as a key mediator.