Contact:  levyadun@research.haifa.ac.il

     Tel. +972-4-9838827 / +972-52-781245

 

Born	November 19, 1952
Place of Birth	Israel
Military Service	1971-1974 (disabled veteran, lost a leg in the 1973 war)
	1994-1997, Scientist, Rank Major

  

Education

 

1976-81	B.Sc., Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University
1981-86	M.Sc., Department of Botany, Tel Aviv University (awarded a summa cum laude)
1985-91	M.A., Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University. Including complementary studies for a B.A. (awarded a summa cum laude)
1987-92	Ph.D., Department of Botany, Tel Aviv University
1992-94	Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Plant Genetics, The Weizmann Institute of Science

 

Major Research Activites

 

(1) The beginning of agriculture: The biology and genetics of plant domestication.
Including field crops and olive. A group of several projects focusing on the mode of domestication of wild legumes. The meaning of olive remnants in archaeological excavations in the light of the reproductive biology of the wild species and traditional and modern varieties. Domestication of some members of the Astaraceae.
Selected representative publications:
Lev-Yadun, S., A. Gopher & S. Abbo. 2000. The cradle of agriculture. Science 288:1602-1603.
Lev-Yadun, S., S. Abbo & J. Doebley. 2002. Wheat, rye, and barley on the cob? Nature
Biotechnology 20:337-338.
Abbo, S., D. Shtienberg, J. Lichtenzveig, S. Lev-Yadun & A. Gopher. 2003. The chickpea, summer
cropping, and a new model for pulse domestication in the ancient Near East. Quarterly Review of
Biology 78:435-448.

 

(2) Arabidopsis thaliana as a model for the biology of trees.
Including several projects on wood and fiber formation. Physiology and regulation of cambial activity. Establishing Arabidopsis as a model for horticultural aspects.
Selected representative publications:
Lev-Yadun, S. 1994. Induction of sclereid differentiation in the pith of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.)
Heynh. Journal of Experimental Botany 45:1845-1849.
Lev-Yadun, S. 1997. Fibres and fibre-sclereids in wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana. Annals of Botany
80:125-129.
Lev-Yadun, S. & M.A. Flaishman. 2001. The effect of submergence on ontogeny of cambium and
secondary xylem and on fiber lignification in inflorescence stems of Arabidopsis. IAWA Journal
22:159-169.

 

(3) Developmental processes in plants: meristematic activity and its ecology and regulation, fate of apical meristems, homeosis, pattern formation.
Including field and laboratory experiments. Use of mutants and transgenes. Studies at the developmental, physiological evolutionary and genetic levels.
Selected representative publications:
Lev-Yadun, S. 2000. Whirled grain in wood and topological defects. Journal of Theoretical
Biology 205:511-514.
Lev-Yadun, S. 2001. Intrusive growth - the plant analog to dendrite and axon growth in animals. New
Phytologist 150:508-512.
Avivi, Y., S. Lev-Yadun, N. Morozova, L. Libs, L. Williams, J. Zhao & G. Grafi. 2000. Clausa, a
tomato mutant with a wide range of phenotypic perturbations, displays a cell type-dependent
expression of the homeobox gene Let6/Tkn2. Plant Physiology 124:541-551 (Including a cover
picture).

 

(4) The ecology and evolution of defensive vegetative coloration in plants.
The biological reasoning for the diversity of coloration in plant stems, leaves and protective structures.
Selected representative publications:
Lev-Yadun, S. 2001. Aposematic (warning) coloration associated with thorns in higher plants.
Journal of Theoretical Biology 210:385-388.
Lev-Yadun, S. & M. Inbar. 2002. Defensive ant, aphid and caterpillar mimicry in plants. Biological
Journal of the Linnean Society 77:393-398. (A commentary about this publication was
published in Nature Science Update November 14, 2002 - Plants feign infestation).
Lev-Yadun, S., A. Dafni, M. Inbar, I. Izhaki & G. Ne`eman. 2002. Colour patterns in vegetative parts
of plants deserve more research attention. Trends in Plant Science 7:59-60.
Lev-Yadun, S., A. Dafni, M.A. Flaishman, M. Inbar, I. Izhaki, G. Katzir & G. Ne`eman. 2004. Plant
coloration undermines herbivorous insect camouflage. BioEssays 26:1126-1130.

 

(5) Palaeoecology: beginning of agriculture, dendrochronology, identification of botanical
material from archaeological excavations, reconstruction of palaeoenvironments.
Selected representative publications:
Lev-Yadun, S., M. Artzy, E. Marcus & R. Stidsing. 1996. Wood remains from Tel Nami, a Middle
Bronze IIa and Late Bronze IIb port, local exploitation of trees and Levantine cedar trade.
Economic Botany 50:310-317.
Albert, R.M., O. Lavi, L. Estroff, S. Weiner, A. Tsatskin, A. Ronen & S. Lev-Yadun. 1999. Mode of
occupation of Tabun Cave, Mt Carmel, Israel during the Mousterian period: A study of the
sediments and phytoliths. Journal of Archaeological Sciences 26:1249-1260.
Weinstein-Evron, M. & S. Lev-Yadun. 2000. Palaeoecology of Pinus halepensis in Israel in the light
of archaeobotanical data. In: Ecology, biogeography and management of Pinus halepensis and
Pinus brutia forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean Basin. Eds. Ne`eman, G. & L. Trabaud,
pp. 119-130. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden.

 

Courses

 

1.      Plant physiology. 

2.      Introductionary and advanced field courses in geobotany and plant ecology.

3.      Plants and Human Culture.

4.      Plants structure and function.

 

Detailed CV & List of Publications

 

 

  Back to Faculty page
Back to the main page