Alicja Macko-Podgórni

Dr hab. Inż. Alicja Macko-Podgórni is a professor in the Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Horticulture, University of Agriculture in Krakow (URK). She conducts research in plant genomics and crop improvement and has been involved in carrot genome sequencing projects. Her scientific interests focus on elucidating the role of mobile genetic elements, particularly class II transposons (MITEs, miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements) and LTR retrotransposons, in genome evolution, regulation of gene expression, and the shaping of genetic diversity in cultivated plants. Recently, she showed, that carrot MITEs fine-tune gene expression by redistributing binding sites for transcription factors from the LHY/RVE family.