Investigating plant vascular development using forward and reverse genetics

Cell division and differentiation occur in a highly ordered manner in plant vascular tissue, making it an excellent model for studying developmental biology. Plant vascular development is under tight genetic control, and is influenced by a signalling mechanism that includes a ligand, CLE41 and receptor known as PXY.
We have shown that manipulating PXY signalling can lead to increases in plant productivity. A small number of genes have been identified that respond to PXY signalling to control vascular development, but evidence suggests that there remain many unidentified targets of PXY signalling. Characterisation of novel genetic factors identified in this project will give insight into underlying developmental mechanisms.
The student will use a combination of classical genetics and genomic technologies, including next generation sequencing and bioinformatics, to identify novel PXY signalling targets and will characterise how these factors interact to coordinate plant development.