Ioanna Kostaki
PhD student
Research Interests
My research focuses on the control of stomatal development by light.
Stomata are cellular epidermal complexes in plants responsible for gas exchange with the environment. Their role in the physiology of the plant is vital as through these pores plants take up CO2 for photosynthesis and lose water in the form of vapour. Plants respond to a variety of environmental stimuli, such as humidity, light and temperature. When it comes to stomata there are two types of responses, a short term one, which is the control of stomatal aperture and a long term one, which is the regulation of the number of stomata that develop on the leaf surface of newly formed leaves. My work aims at uncovering the pathways through which light affects the formation of stomatal complexes. To achieve this goal I am studying the model organism A. thaliana.
My work is funded by the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY)