Name of the laboratory:

Cell Membrane Systems

Phone:

(+994-12) 538 11 64

Fax:

(+994-12) 510 24 33

E-mail:

cellmemsyslab@imbb.science.az

Head of the laboratory:

Doctor of biological sciences Saftar Yusif Suleymanov 

Staff:

researcher Nahida Khangulu Aliyeva

junior researcher Zibeyda Vilayet Hajiyeva

junior researcher Elgul Elman Gafarova 

senior laboratory assistant Mahbuba Rovshan Hamidova

senior laboratory assistant Konul Ramiz Samadova

Main activity directions:

The main direction of research work of the laboratory is the study of the molecular structure and functional properties of submolecular pigment-protein complexes, which are structural and functional components of the photosynthetic membranes of chloroplasts in higher plants. At the same time, the laboratory conducts research to study the response of plants to the effects of abiotic stressors (drought, salinity, radiation, etc.). Experiments are carried out at the level of leaf, chloroplast and thylakoid membranes in biochemical and biophysical terms.

Main scientific achievements:

The principles of structural and molecular organization, orientation and regulation of the formation of thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts and pigment-protein complexes in higher plants have been studied. As a result of the research, the orientation of photosynthetic pigments relative to the plane of the thylakoid membrane was determined and for the first time a model of the topography of pigment-protein complexes in spinach was given. The principles of the formation of pigment-protein complexes of the photosynthetic membrane in wheat plants leaded in various light modes (intermittent and continuous) were determined, and the structural and stabilizing role of carotenoids in these processes was revealed. It was shown that the apo-proteins of these complexes accumulate in monomeric forms in plastids during illumination, and then these forms aggregate to form oligomeric forms. For the first time, light-induced proteins with molecular weights of 20.5-19 and 17.5-15.5 kDa, called ELIP (Early Light-Induced Proteins), were observed in the early stages of wheat greening and were identified as carotenoid-binding proteins.
It was found that an increase in the activity of radium (226Ra) in the soil (135, 655, and 1305 Bq / kg) leads to a decrease in the functional activity of PS I and PS II in chloroplasts of cultivated plants (barley, alfalfa, corn). This fact can be explained by disturbances in the electron transport chain of the thylakoid membrane under the influence of oxidative stress and damage to proteins belonging to the PS II reaction center. The influence of various environmental stresses (drought, salinity, radiation, etc.) on plants has been studied and changes in the photosynthetic apparatus in the process of adaptation to extreme conditions have been evaluated.