Development and evolution of land plant shoots

从谷类作物到桉树林，植物是如何生长和发展其奇妙的多样性的？该项目旨在通过对模式被子植物拟南芥（Arabidopsis）和具有简化基因组的地茅（Marchantia）的比较研究，了解植物发育的基本机制。对身体结构、分支和激素作用的遗传基础进行比较研究，可以解开它们从简单的苔类植物到更复杂的开花植物的进化过程。该项目可能会对基因和激素如何控制植物芽系统结构的原理产生新的认识，并支持有针对性地选择新的农业植物。

How do plants grow and develop their wonderful diversity of forms, from cereal crops to eucalypt forests? The project aims to understand basic mechanisms of plant development via comparative studies using the model angiosperm, Arabidopsis, and the liverwort, Marchantia, which possesses a simplified genome. Comparative studies of the genetic basis of the body plan, branching, and hormonal action could unlock their evolutionary elaboration from the simpler liverworts to more complex flowering plants. The project may generate new understanding of the principles of how genes and hormones control the architecture of plant shoot systems, and support the targeted selection of new agricultural plants.