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SUMMARY:Cortical microtubules shape cell walls to support a wide range of 
 functions - Eva Deinum
DTSTART:20240610T133000Z
DTEND:20240610T143000Z
UID:TALK215923@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jia CHEN
DESCRIPTION:Abstract \n\nHow plants fulfill their life functions is to a l
 arge extend dictated by the presence of cell walls. These cell walls can a
 dopt a wide range of structures\, depending on the local functional demand
 s -- from stretching in a particular direction to reconciling contradictor
 y requirements. A beautiful example of the latter is found in the primary 
 xylem. Different patterns of local cell wall reinforcements are used at di
 fferent stages of development\, in line with different mechanical requirem
 ents. The required anisotropic material properties largely derive from the
  location and orientation of the constituting cellulose microfibrils. Thes
 e\, in turn are deposited along the cortical microtubule cytoskeleton. \n\
 n \n\nI will describe how we use the banded pattern in protoxylem as a mod
 el system for complex cell wall patterns. For this\, we use a diversity of
  modelling approaches involving both cortical microtubules and Rho-of-Plan
 ts (ROP) proteins. These deeply conserved small GTPases can establish memb
 rane zones with different properties\, leading to local differences in mic
 rotubule dynamics. Microtubules\, however\, do not simply "read out" this 
 pattern. The final pattern arises from the mutual interations of both syst
 ems. This work not only helped us understand how these beautiful and funct
 ionally important patterns are formed\, but also brought to light importan
 t insights on 1) how the precise distribution of microtubule nucleation pl
 ays a critical role in maintaining homogeneous microtubule arrays and\, he
 nce\, cell wall integrity\; and 2) how microtubule flexibility affects the
  array's potential to adopt complex patterns and align in the first place.
  \n\n \n\nI will also show some stunning pictures from recent field trips 
 to South Africa and the USA to study/hunt for some very special plants: th
 e few known species in the world that display dimorphic enantiostyly\, whi
 ch we use as a model system for the de novo establishment a left-right asy
 mmetry. These plants demonstrate that rich biodiversity we still have in o
 ur world is an incredibly valuable resource even for fundamental cell and 
 developmental biology\, though challenging and challenged. \n\nThis is a h
 ybrid event\, in-person at SLCU and Zoom link: Join Zoom Meeting https://c
 am-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87939943699 Meeting ID: 879 3994 3699
LOCATION:in person at Sainsbury Laboratory and online
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