In nature there is a remarkable diversity in organ shape which has captured the imagination of people throughout history. The leaves of plants are one of the most diverse and characteristic organs in nature and are hypothesised to form the basis of all floral organs too. It may therefore come as a surprise that we still do not fully understand how leaves are defined, and how the genetic patterns that underpin them could be modulated to generate new shapes. Answering these questions will help us to understand how evolutionary innovations arise, and identify genes that could be important in defining the shape of our crop plants.
In the Plant Shape Lab our work focuses on the development of the grasses which provide more than 50% of global calories and occupy nearly every terrestrial niche. This makes them both environmentally and economically important. The grass leaf has a specialised 3D shape, with a wrapped base, a middle hinge region and an upper flat lamina which is very distinct from other model plants, like Arabidopsis thaliana. Despite these clear morphological differences, our recent work developed a computational model of grass leaves which predicted that there is conservation of gene expression patterns and function between the grass model maize, and Arabidopsis. We are now investigating this further by asking: What is the common genetic toolkit that defines a leaf, and how is it modified in different plant species to generate distinctive shapes like the grass leaf?
During this PhD you will investigate the genetic network underpinning grass leaf development and how it may differ in different grass organs, and other plant species. To do this you will learn to use 3D imaging, computational modelling and gene expression analyses to test hypotheses and characterise gene functions. This work will identify new genes involved in the gene network that defines the shape of the grass leaf and how these genes interact to modulate growth patterns to influence final organ shape.
The successful candidate will gain experience in a range of different experimental and analytical techniques, including confocal microscopy, molecular biology, high-throughput sequencing, scanning electron microscopy and statistics. They will also interact with international collaborators and develop skills in scientific presentation and writing.
http://www.theplantshapelab.org/
https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington
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