Prof. dr. hab Ireneusz Ślesak

 EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

• 1989 – 1994: undergraduate biology studies, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Kraków

• 2001: Ph. D. Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Kraków

• 1994 – 1996: Ph. D. student at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (Jagiellonian University, Kraków)

• Department of Plant Physiology of Polish Academy of Sciences: assistant 1996, research associate 2001

• 2010: habilitation, Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków

• 2019: Professor, Institute of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT AND POSITIONS HELD

• 1994 – 1996: PhD student at the Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Institute
  of Molecular Biology, Jagiellonian University (Kraków)

• 1996 – 2001: research assistant at the Department of Plant Physiology, PAS (Kraków)

• 1998: research assistant in the Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Institute of
  Molecular Biology, Jagiellonian University (Kraków)

• 2001 – 2011: assistant professor (adjunct)  in the Department of Plant Physiology PAS,
  (Institute of Plant Physiology PAS, since 2003)

• 2005 – 2013: Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, IPP PAS, Kraków

• 2009 – 2014: technical assistant (employed in the project WELCOME 2008/1, the part-time
  position), Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology (DPGBB), Warsaw
  University of Life Sciences

• 2011 – 2019: associate professor, IPP PAS, Kraków

• Since 2014: Deputy Head of the Department of Stress Biology (DSB), IPP PAS,
  Kraków

• 2017 – 2018: technical assistant (employed in the project BIOSTRATEG 2
  (BIOSTRATEG2/298241/10/NCBR/2016, the part-time position), DPGBB, Warsaw University of
  Life Sciences

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My scientific interests focus on the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the response of plants to various abiotic stresses. My research area includes the characterisation of the antioxidant system and ecophysiological aspects of metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana and Populus sp. Another area of interest is the phylogeny of the antioxidant system, oxygenic photosynthesis and aerobic metabolism in different groups of organisms and their presumed role in the early stages of life evolution on Earth.

PRACTICAL SKILLS

       electrophoretic techniques concerning electrophoresis of proteins and nucleic acids;

       spectrophotometric determination of enzymes activities, determination of photosystem I and II (PSI and PSII) efficiency,

       Northern blot hybridization, selected bioinformatic tools

MEMBERSHIP AND FUNCTIONS

• Member of Scientific Council of the Institute of Plant Physiology PAS (since 2003)

• Member of Polish Society of Experimental Plant Biology (since 2009) 

• Member of the Committee of Organismal Biology, PAS (since 2021)

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

• February-June 1998, undergraduate Course in Biochemistry in the Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków

• 2003-2007, undergraduate Course “Basics of Molecular Biology” for students of Agrobiology at the Agricultural University, Kraków

SCIENTIFIC POPULAR PAPERS AND REVIEWS (not included in the IPP PAS database, in Polish)

Ślesak I. 1988. O oddziaływaniu metali ciężkich na drożdże Saccharomyces ellipsoideus. [The effect of heavy metals on yeasts Saccharomyces ellipsoideus]. Wszechświat, 89: 241-242.

Ślesak I. 1991. Indukowane światłem ruchy chloroplastów [Light-induced chloroplast movements]. Wszechświat, 92: 242-244.

Ślesak I. 1992. Gould S. J. „Niewczesny pogrzeb Darwina” [Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History]. Wszechświat, 93: 55

Ślesak I., Gabryś H. 1993. Wapń jako wtórny przekaźnik w fotoindukowanych ruchach wewnątrzkomórkowych w komórce roślinnej [Calcium as second messenger in photoinduced intracellular movements in the plant cell]. Post. Biol. Kom. 20: 75-85.

Ślesak I. 1997. Fuzja protoplastów roślinnych i jej praktyczne znaczenie [The plant protoplast fusion and its practical significance]. Wiad. Bot. 41: 63-76.

Miszalski Z., Ślesak I. 1998. W poszukiwaniu genów warunkujących odporność an czynniki stresowe u roślin [In search of genes determining resistance to stress factors in plants]. Wszechświat, 99: 255-257.

Ślesak I., Miszalski Z. 1999. Reakcje stresowe u Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. [Stress reactions in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.]. Wiad. Bot. 43: 47-58.

Miszalski Z., Niewiadomska E., Ślesak I. 1999. Możliwości wykorzystania halofitów w praktyce [Possiblity of the use of halophytes in practice]. Działalność Naukowa PAN, 7: 168-169.

Ślesak I., Karpiński S. 2010. Biologiczne bazy danych i ich zastosowanie w funkcjonalnej analizie porównawczej organizmów – wybrane zagadnienia [Biological databases and their application for functional comparative analysis of organisms - selected issues]. Biotechnologia, 4: 39-52.

Ślesak H., Ślesak I. 2011. Odpowiedź roślin na zranienie [The response of plants to wounding]. Kosmos, 60: 445-457.

Zieliński K.J., Kaczmarczyk A., Cieślak E., Ślesak I. 2021. Symbioza u cyjanobakterii [Symbiosis with cyanobacteria]. Kosmos 70: 697 – 710.

Mazur Z., Ślesak I. 2022. Cyjanobakterie (sinice) – organizmy, którym niestraszne jest promieniowanie UV. [Cyanobacteria - organisms that are intimidated by UV radiation]. Kosmos,  71: 473 - 486.

DATABASES

      Gene Expression Omnibus: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?token=ltihrsqeoymmons&acc=GSE24766

PATENTS

      Application No. 61/577,279, the US Patent and Trademark Office, International filing date: 19/12/2011,

      publication date: 27/06/2011, Inventors: Karpiński S., Szechyńska-Hebda M., Ślesak I., Wituszyńska W.  

SCHOLARSHIPS AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ABROAD

• TEMPUS scholarship (1996), Department of Biology at the Antwerp University in Belgium (5 months, prof. J-P. Verbelen)

• The Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, Institute of Botany (1996, 1997, 1998), joint programme, (3 months, U. Lüttge)

• Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå (1999), joint programme (5 months, prof. S. Karpiński, prof. J-E. Hällgren )

• Department of Botany, Stockholm University (2000-2005), joint programme (5 months, prof. S. Karpiński)

OTHER INTERESTS

astrobiology, philosophy, history of science