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SUMMARY:How Plants Grow: Chemical and Physical Interactions Create Develop
 mental Patterns - Professor Elliot Meyerowitz ForMemRS\, Inaugural Directo
 r The Sainsbury Laboratory\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20121022T163000Z
DTEND:20121022T173000Z
UID:TALK33463@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Beverley Larner
DESCRIPTION:Plants grow from meristems\, collections of stem cells found a
 t the apical tip of each shoot\, and at the base of each root.  The shoot 
 apical meristem (SAM) is the source all of the parts of the plant found ab
 ove ground\, and therefore is responsible for most of our food\, fiber\, a
 nd even atmospheric oxygen.  How this collection of a few hundred stem cel
 ls makes\, over time\, a highly patterned plant\, with dozens of cell type
 s\, is becoming known. We use live imaging\, genetic and environmental alt
 erations\, and computational modeling to understand how plant cells commun
 icate in the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem.\n\nOne pattern generated b
 y the SAM has held a fascination for generations of scientists.  This is t
 he phyllotactic pattern\, the pattern of leaves and flowers around the ste
 m.  The most common such pattern is the spiral phyllotactic pattern\, whic
 h creates the highly recognizable organization of compound fruits such as 
 pineapples\, of flowers like roses\, and of inflorescences such as sunflow
 ers.  The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana also has a spiral phyllotaxis\,
  and we have used genetic\, genomic\, and cell biological approaches to le
 arn in detail how the cells of the SAM generate this pattern. It has long 
 been known that there is a key chemical signal\, the plant hormone auxin. 
  We have learned how dynamic feedbacks in auxin transport lead to the phyl
 lotactic pattern and have detailed computational models that explain many 
 classical observations.  One key aspect of the models is communication bet
 ween cells not only of chemical information\, but also of mechanical stres
 ses\, which serve a regulatory function in auxin transport.  This aspect o
 f the model has led to new experiments\, which show that mechanical as wel
 l as chemical signals are central to plant development.
LOCATION:Bristol-Myers-Squibb Lecture theatre\, Department of Chemistry
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