Cortical Microtubule Patterning in the Arabidopsis Hypocotyl

植物调整它们的生长计划以最大限度地利用资源。这个适应性程序的一个核心工具是茎和根的快速延伸。植物通过顶端分生组织（植物中产生干细胞的部分）的重新定位，向着阳光或更肥沃的土壤生长。这个项目的重点是细胞生长过程的基本特性，对形态发生至关重要。利用遗传分析、计算模型和前沿显微镜技术，这项工作将揭示细胞内部聚合物系统如何在空间上组织响应植物激素来指导轴细胞生长。微管细胞骨架通过影响细胞壁的力学特性，在植物轴向形态发生中起着重要作用。微管在细胞膜下形成图案，决定了纤维素微原纤维沉积在细胞壁的位置。通过创造共取向的纤维素模式，微管使细胞偏向轴向延伸。该项目的目标是发现导致特定微管模式的基因和分子机制，并将这些信息转移到细胞壁。为了实现这一目标，基因筛选和细胞生物学工具将结合起来，以确定植物激素受体如何触发微管阵列模式，以及微管的模式如何与细胞扩增相结合。

Plants adjust their growth plan to maximize exposure to resources. A central tool in this adaptive program is the rapid extension of stems and roots. Plants grow toward the sun or toward richer soils through careful re-orientation of their apical meristems, the stem-cell generating portions of the plant. This project focuses on the fundamental properties of cellular growth processes critical to morphogenesis. Using genetic analysis, computational models, and leading-edge microscopy techniques, this work will reveal how the internal polymer systems in the cell spatially organize in response to plant hormones to direct axial cell growth.The microtubule cytoskeleton has a fundamental role in orchestrating the axial morphogenesis of plants through its ability to influence the mechanical properties of the cell wall. Microtubules organize into patterns just beneath the cell membrane that determine where cellulose microfibrils are deposited into the cell wall. By creating co-oriented cellulose patterns, the microtubules bias cells toward axial extension. The goal of the project is to discover the genes and molecular mechanism that lead to specific microtubule patterns and the transfer of that information to the cell wall. To accomplish that goal, genetic screening and cell biological tools will be combined to determine how plant hormone receptors trigger microtubule array patterning and how the patterning of the microtubules is integrated with cell expansion.