Deciphering the developmental basis of carpel and fruit shape

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Nearly all fruit, grains and seeds are produced by the carpel - a closed organ located in the centre of flowers, that houses the ovules and facilitates their fertilization. Critically, from our perspective, the carpel plays a crucial part in determining the yield of crops harvested for fruit, grain or seed. Therefore understanding how the carpel is formed is fundamental to explaining how fruit is produced, how fruit diversity arises, and how it is affected by the environmental conditions in which plants grow.This project addresses the following questions: - how do genes control the growth processes that lead to production of the carpel? - how are these genes and processes modified to produce a different carpel shapes? - how are the processes that lead to carpel production affected by environmental stress such as heat and drought? We will answer these questions by studying the mechanisms that regulate carpel formation in the model species thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), a member of the cabbage family, and the agronomically important legume species pea (Pisum sativum). To identify the mechanisms that control how the carpel is formed within the floral bud we will investigate how genes influence cell division and cell growth. To understand how different carpel shapes are produced we will compare the activity of genes of interest and the growth patterns that generate the carpel in two plant species with different carpel shapes (thale cress and pea). To determine how these processes respond to environmental stress we will subject plants to high temperatures and/or drought and measure the effect of stress on carpel development and fruit production. As we study how genes control growth in the flower bud to produce the carpel in the two species we will be able to dissect the evolutionary history of fruit diversity. As we test how these processes are affected by elevated temperatures and low water availability we will be able to understand how plants make decisions through development in response to the environment. The results of our research will enable us to predict how fruit production will respond to growing environmental pressures, and improve fruit and seed production in agronomically important crops in a changing world.