Sphingolipid metabolism and programmed cell death in tomato

Programmed cell death is genetically determined. When the regulation of the process is disrupted it can have severe or lethal consequences for the organism. In mammals, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases are associated with abnormalities in programmed cell death. Development of an animal embryo is dependant on the correct execution of programmed cell death in certain cell types, which are no longer needed for the next developmental stage. In plants, programmed cell death occurs during development, as a response to pathogen attack (known as a hypersensitive response) or as a result of specific toxins released by a pathogen. The process of programmed cell death can be divided into three distinct phases, induction, effector and degradation. The focus of our research in initial signalling events that take place in the induction phase of programmed cell death in tomato. ... Zie: Summary