Dr. Yosef Fichman

Yosef Fichman is a senior lecturer in the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security. He was trained as undergrad in Biology at Tel Aviv University. Yosef received his M.Sc. in Plant Sciences and his Ph.D in Plant Molecular Biology from Tel Aviv University. 

Plants respond to changes in their environment to survive and grow. When one part of a plant is stressed, the whole plant responds within minutes. This is called systemic acclimation, a process by which plants adjust their metabolism, physiology, and biochemistry to adapt to changes in their growth conditions or environment. 

Our research focuses on the molecular mechanisms on of systemic acclimation to light and other abiotic stresses. We study how signals such as reactive oxygen species, calcium, and membrane depolarization spread rapidly within cells and from cell to cell. We also investigate how these signals affect amino acid metabolism, which plays a role in acclimation. 

To answer these questions, we use a variety of methods, including molecular biology, genetic screens, imaging, physiological assays, and omics. 

Fichman, Y., Rowland, L., Oliver, M. J., & Mittler, R. (2023). ROS are evolutionary conserved cell-to-cell stress signals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(31), e2305496120. 

Fichman, Y., Xiong, H., Sengupta, S., Morrow, J., Loog, H., Azad, R. K., ... & Mittler, R. (2023). Phytochrome B regulates reactive oxygen signaling during abiotic and biotic stress in plants. New Phytologist, 237(5), 1711-1727. 

Myers Jr, R. J., Fichman, Y., Zandalinas, S. I., & Mittler, R. (2023). Jasmonic acid and salicylic acid modulate systemic reactive oxygen species signaling during stress responses. Plant Physiology, 191(2), 862-873. 

Fichman, Y., Zandalinas, S. I., Peck, S., Luan, S., & Mittler, R. (2022). HPCA1 is required for systemic reactive oxygen species and calcium cell-to-cell signaling and plant acclimation to stress. The Plant Cell, 34(11), 4453-4471. 

Mittler, R., Zandalinas, S. I., Fichman, Y., & Van Breusegem, F. (2022). Reactive oxygen species signalling in plant stress responses. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 23(10), 663-679. 
 

Szechyńska-Hebda, M., Lewandowska, M., Witoń, D., Fichman, Y., Mittler, R., & Karpiński, S. M. (2022). Aboveground plant-to-plant electrical signaling mediates network acquired acclimation. The Plant Cell, 34(8), 3047-3065. 

Myers Jr, R. J., Fichman, Y., Stacey, G., & Mittler, R. (2022). Extracellular ATP plays an important role in systemic wound response activation. Plant Physiology, 189(3), 1314-1325. 

Fichman, Y., & Mittler, R. (2021). A systemic whole-plant change in redox levels accompanies the rapid systemic response to wounding. Plant Physiology, 186(1), 4-8. 

Fichman, Y., Myers Jr, R. J., Grant, D. G., & Mittler, R. (2021). Plasmodesmata-localized proteins and ROS orchestrate light-induced rapid systemic signaling in Arabidopsis. Science Signaling, 14(671), eabf0322. 

Fichman, Y., & Mittler, R. (2021). Integration of electric, calcium, reactive oxygen species and hydraulic signals during rapid systemic signaling in plants. The Plant Journal, 107(1), 7-20.