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SUMMARY:The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha as an emerging model plant - K
 imitsune Ishizaki\, Kyoto University
DTSTART:20100127T130000Z
DTEND:20100127T133000Z
UID:TALK22534@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:15560
DESCRIPTION:Emergence of land plants\, approximately 480 million years ago
 \, was one of the major events for the life on planet earth. Experimental\
 , paleontological\, morphological\, and molecular systematic data all supp
 ort that liverworts represent the earliest land plant. Liverworts are a ke
 y group to understand the genetic basis of the key innovations that allowe
 d green plants to evolve from aquatic ancestors and to adapt to life on la
 nd1). Marchantia polymorpha is a common\, well-propagating\, dioecious liv
 erwort species\, and the haploid gametophytic generation dominates over th
 e diploid sporophytic generation in its life cycle. The organellar genomes
  and the Y chromosome of M. polymorpha were the first to be sequenced in p
 lants2)\, and the whole-genome shotgun-sequencing project has been launche
 d recently at the Joint Genome Institute in USA. We focus on the potential
  of M. polymorpha as a model plant for molecular genetics\, and have been 
 developing crucial experimental procedures and resources. We have found th
 at growth condition rich in far-red light promotes transition to the repro
 ductive phase\, which has made crosses in laboratory possible3). Linkage a
 nalysis on M. polymorpha can be done with an F1 population instead of F2 d
 ue to its haploidy\, and a genetic map have been constructed using >100 ma
 rkers based on DNA polymorphisms between our two laboratory lines. We have
  also developed an efficient transformation system for M. polymorpha using
  Agrobacterium tumefaciens4). It is easy to monitor M. polymorpha cells de
 veloping from a single-celled spore under various conditions. Our system f
 ounded on M. polymorpha should contribute to fundamental understanding of 
 the regulatory mechanisms that mediate plant development and responses to 
 various environmental factors. \nAs an example\, I would like to show also
  our recent work on auxin signaling in the basal land plant M. polymorpha.
 \n\nReferences:\n1. Bowman J.L. et al. (2007) Cell 129\, 229-234\n2. Yamat
 o K.T. et al. (2007) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104\, 6472-6477\n3. Chiyod
 a S. et al. (2008) Plant Cell Rep. 27\, 1467-1473\n4. Ishizaki K. et al. (
 2008) Plant Cell Physiol. 49\, 1084-1091\n
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
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