Prof. Roni Aloni

Emeritus in Molecular Biology Ecology of Plants
ביולוגיה מול.ואקול.צמחים אמריטוס
Prof. Roni Aloni
Fax: 03-6409380
Office: Britannia-Porter, 514

CV

Education

Period Degree Institute
1968 B.Sc. Hebrew University, Jerusalem
1970 M.Sc. Hebrew University, Jerusalem
1974 Ph.D. Hebrew University, Jerusalem
1974-76 PostDoc Princeton University, NJ, USA

 

Academic Positions

Period Rank/Function Institute
1973-77 Lecturer Biology at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology
1976-79 Lecturer Botany, TAU
1979-85 Senior Lecturer Botany, TAU
1985-91 Assoc. Professor Botany, TAU
1992-2013 Professor Plant Sciences, TAU
Since 2013 Professor emeritus TAU

 

Other Appointments

Year Appointment Institute
1974-76 Visiting Fellow Princeton University, New Jersey, USA, Biology
1982-83 Harvard University, Mass, USA, Bullard Research Fellow for Forestry research
1988-90 Visiting Associate Professor University of Waterloo, Ont, Canada, Biology
1989-99 Adjunct Professor University of Waterloo, Ont, Canada, Biology
1991 Visiting Associate Professor University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
1999-2000 Visiting Professor University of California, Berkeley, USA, Plant Biology
2004 Visiting Professor Technische Universität Darmstadt, Botanik, Germany
2009-2010 Visiting Professor Simon Fraser University, BC Canada, Biology

 

Other Appointments and Awards

Year Award/Appointment
1981 Distinguished Teacher Award, 1st place in Life Science Faculty (3rd place at TAU)
1990-12 Coordinator of the working parties on “Biological control of wood quality” (Unit 5.01.01) and "Xylem Physiology" (Unit 2.01.10) of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO)
1996-98 President of the Botanical Society of Israel
1990-2013 Editor of the International journal Trees Structure and Function, Springer
Since 2008 Editor of International journal Planta, Springer

 

Elected to International Academies

 

Since 1991 Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science; on the Academy Board (2014-20)

Since 2005 Member of Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences, Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften

Research Interests

My research goal is to understand how phytohormones induce and regulate the differentiation, regeneration and evolution of vascular systems in plants. The research addresses fundamental issues of plant hormone biology: hormone production, transport pathways and hormonal mechanisms that control the differentiation of various cell types in the xylem and phloem of organized tissues, tumors and galls; providing practical tools for improving fiber and wood quality in forest trees and other industrial plants. Our study on tumors of plants led to the discovery of the role of the ethylene hormone in tumors; promoting the use of ethylene insensitive plants that are healthy and tumor free. My research and the entire field of vascular differentiation were recently summarized and discussed in the Springer’s book: Vascular Differentiation and Plant Hormones (2020).

 

Selected and Recent Publications

Aloni R (2020) Vascular Differentiation and Plant Hormones. Springer, Berlin.

 

Ullrich CI, Aloni R, Saeed MEM, Ullrich W, Efferth T (2019) Comparison between tumors in plants and human beings: Mechanisms of tumor development and therapy with secondary plant metabolites. Phytomedicine 64: 153081.

 

Shalit-Kaneh A, Eviatar-Ribak T, Horev G, Suss N, Aloni R, Eshed Y, Lifschitz E (2019) The flowering hormone florigen accelerates secondary cell wall biogenesis to harmonize vascular maturation with reproductive development. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116: 16127-16136.

 

Singh V, Sergeeva L, Ligterink W, Aloni R, Zemach H, Doron-Faigenboim A, Yang J, Zhang P, Shabtai S and Firon N (2019) Gibberellin Promotes Sweetpotato Root Vascular Lignification and Reduces Storage-Root Formation. Front. Plant Sci 10: 1320.

 

Stein O, Avin-Wittenberg T, Krahnert I, Zemach H, Bogol V, Daron O, Aloni R, Fernie AR, Granot D (2017) Arabidopsis Fructokinases Are Important for Seed Oil Accumulation and Vascular Development. Front Plant Sci 7: 2047.

 

Foster A, Aloni R, Mario F, Regine G, Gerhard G, Mattsson J (2016) Foliar phase changes are coupled with changes in storage and biochemistry of monoterpenoids in Western redceder (Thuja plicata). Trees 30: 1361-1375.

 

Aloni R (2015) Ecophysiological implications of vascular differentiation and plant evolution. Trees 29: 1-16.

 

Ma J, Aloni R, Villordon A, Labonte D, Kfir Y, Zemach H, Schwartz A, Althan L, Firon N (2015) Adventitious root primordia formation and development in stem nodes of 'Georgia Jet' sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas. Am J Bot 102: 1040-1049.

 

Aloni R (2013) The role of hormones in controlling vascular differentiation. In: Cellular Aspects of Wood Formation, J Fromm (ed). Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 99-139.

 

Aloni R (2013) Role of hormones in controlling vascular differentiation and the mechanism of lateral root initiation. Planta 238: 819-830.

 

Aloni R, Foster A, Mattsson J (2013) Transfusion tracheids in the conifer leaves of Thuja plicata (Cupressaceae) are derived from parenchyma and their differentiation is induced by auxin. Am J Bot 100: 1949-1956.

 

Dayan J, Voronin N, Gong F, Sun T-p, Hedden P, Fromm H, Aloni R (2012) Leaf-induced gibberellin signaling is essential for internode elongation, cambial activity, and fiber differentiation in tobacco stems. Plant Cell 24: 66–79.

 

Dayan J, Schwarzkopf M, Avni A, Aloni R (2010) Enhancing plant growth and fiber production by silencing GA 2-oxidase. Plant Biotechnology J 8: 425–435.

 

Aloni R (2010) The induction of vascular tissue by auxin. In: Plant Hormones: Biosynthesis, Signal Transduction, Action! PJ Davies (ed), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London. pp 485-506.

 

Damari-Weissler H, Rachamilevitch S, Aloni R, German MA, Cohen S, Zwieniecki MA, Holbrook NM, Granot D (2009) LeFRK2 is required for phloem and xylem differentiation and the transport of both sugar and water. Planta 230: 795–805.

 

Aloni R, Ullrich CI (2007) Biology of crown gall tumors. In: Agrobacterium. T. Tzfira and V. Citovsky (eds), Springer, Berlin, pp 525-549.

 

Aloni R (2007) Phytohormonal mechanisms that control wood quality formation in young and mature trees. In: The Compromised Wood Workshop 2007, K Entwistle, P Harris, J Walker (eds). The Wood Technology Research Centre, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, pp 1-22.

 

Aloni R, Aloni E, Langhans M, Ullrich CI (2006) Role of cytokinin and auxin in shaping root architecture: regulating vascular differentiation, lateral root initiation, root apical dominance and root gravitropism. Ann Bot 97: 883-893.

 

Aloni R, Aloni E, Langhans M, Ullrich CI (2006) Role of auxin in regulating Arabidopsis flower development. Planta 223: 315-328.

 

Aloni R, Langhans M, Aloni E, Dreieicher E, Ullrich CI (2005) Root-synthesized cytokinin in Arabidopsis is distributed in the shoot by the transpiration stream. J Exp Bot 56: 1535-1544.

 

Aloni R, Schwalm K, Langhans M, Ullrich CI (2003) Gradual shifts in sites of free-auxin production during leaf-primordium development and their role in vascular differentiation and leaf morphogenesis in Arabidopsis. Planta 216: 841-853.

 

Aloni R (2001) Foliar and axial aspects of vascular differentiation: hypotheses and evidence. J Plant Growth Regul 20: 22-34.

 

Aloni R, Wolf A, Feigenbaum P, Avni A, Klee HJ (1998) The Never ripe mutant provides evidence that tumor-induced ethylene controls the morphogenesis of Agrobacterium tumefaciens-induced crown galls on tomato stems. Plant Physiol 117: 841-849.

 

Aloni R (1991) Wood formation in deciduous hardwood trees. In: Physiology of Trees. AS Raghavendra (ed), John Wiley & Sons, New York, London, Sydney, pp 175-197.

 

Aloni R (1987) Differentiation of vascular tissues. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 38: 179-204.

 

Aloni R, Zimmermann MH (1983) The control of vessel size and density along the plant axis - a new hypothesis. Differentiation 24: 203-208.

 

Aloni R (1985) Plant growth method and composition. United States of America, Patent No 4507144. -- An agricultural method for increasing fiber yield in industrial plants. During plant development, combinations of auxin and gibberellin are applied [the method is demonstrated in my two photos published in Nature (1987) 327: 582].

 

Aloni R (1979) Role of auxin and gibberellin in differentiation of primary phloem fibers. Plant Physiol 63: 609-614. 

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