The Laboratory of Organic Pollutants investigates the effects of organic compounds that contaminate the environment, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), on the biochemical and physiological processes that determine plant growth and development. At the level of whole plants, organs, tissues, cells, and subcellular structures, the laboratory monitors parameters that can provide early and reliable indicators of the effects not only of individual contaminants but, in particular, of the mixtures commonly present in the environment. In addition to evaluating growth parameters and studying morphological and anatomical changes, the laboratory employs methods for assessing the status of photosynthetic processes (chlorophyll fluorescence, Hill reaction activity, and RuBisCO activity) as well as histochemical analyses (oxidative stress, the functionality of defence mechanisms against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, interactions with phytohormones, and the uptake, transport, transformation, and accumulation of pharmaceuticals in plants).

These studies have been supported by several projects funded by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) and are carried out in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University, Mendel University, the Czech Academy of Sciences (Global Change Research Institute), and international partners (JKU Linz, Austria; Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia).

Head of the Research Group: Assoc. prof. Marie Kummerová

Members of the Research Group:

• dr. Štěpán Zezulka 
• Students