Alejandro Fonseca Cárdenas

I work as a researcher at the Department of Plant Biology at SLU, where I study how plants coordinate gene expression at the cellular and subcellular levels. My scientific path has taken me from biotechnology and molecular genetics into plant imaging and single‑cell analysis. I am particularly interested in how individual cells regulate and integrate gene expression programs within the context of a developing organ.

In my work, I extensively use single‑molecule RNA FISH, confocal microscopy, and transcriptomic methods to explore how cells control RNA homeostasis, spatial organization, and expression dynamics.

My research focuses on understanding how plant cells regulate gene expression during development, with a particular interest in quantitative aspects of transcription and RNA abundance. At SLU, one of my central questions has been how individual cells maintain consistent concentrations of RNA and proteins regardless of their size, a process known as gene expression scaling. This principle is essential for preserving cellular functions and coordinating tissue organization. Through a combination of RNA imaging, image analysis, and quantitative expression methods, my work aims to reveal how transcription and mRNA levels adapt to changes in cell volume and growth.

In addition, I apply single‑cell and imaging techniques to investigate how cells coordinate gene expression to initiate new organ formation in cereals. By integrating imaging and transcriptomic approaches, I aim to uncover cell‑type–specific spatiotemporal gene expression programs that shed light on how cereals adapt their development to changing environmental conditions.

In parallel, I also contribute to method development, continuously improving imaging workflows, smFISH protocols, and analysis pipelines to make high‑resolution approaches more robust and accessible for plant research.

Cell Biology (BI1250)
Confocal Microscopy (PNS0138)