Development and Evolution of Shapes: Investigating the genetic pathways governing the leaf shape in Arabidopsis

The shapes and sizes of organisms and organs are scrupulously conserved within a species. What regulates the shapes and sizes of organisms and their lateral organs are intriguing and fundamental questions in Biology. Understanding the mechanisms controlling shapes and sizes will also lead to new genetic tools that will be essential for tackling the future challenges such as improving crop yield, to support the ever-growing global population.

To this end, we focus on understanding genetic mechanisms controlling diverse shapes and sizes of leaves. Leaves are the main photosynthetic organ and show a great diversity in shape and size. We have been investigating the key regulators controlling the leaf shape in Arabidopsis. Changes in these key regulators alter the final leaf shape and also involve in the natural shape variation among different ecotypes.

In this project you will investigate the genetic pathways governing the leaf shape in Arabidopsis, and also determine how environmental cues affect these genetic pathways. Experimental approaches such as molecular biology, genetics, plant histology and phylogenetic analysis will be used for the study. This includes techniques such as molecular cloning and expression analysis, in situ hybridization, immunolocalization, plant transformation and tissue culture, Scanning Electron Micrography (SEM) and sequence analysis.