Cellular morphodynamics and genome-wide networks driving plant cell shape change
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Biosciences
Abstract
The growth of plants is driven by the division and expansion of cells. This proposal focuses on uncovering the mechanisms driving cell expansion while for the first time identifying the 3D geometrical changes in cell shape. Seed germination will be used to examine cell shape change in plants, as seeds grow only by cell expansion, while their cells do not divide. The genes and proteins that make plant cells grow will be identified using statistical analyses of existing data describing gene expression. This work will uncover the molecular processes that make a plant cell change shape.
Technical Summary
Cell expansion is an integral part of plant development. The hormone gibberellic acid (GA) and its modulation of the DELLA growth repressors represent key molecular components regulating cell shape change. A key gap in our knowledge is a direct molecular link between the DELLA growth repressors, downstream gene expression driving cell shape change and the quantitative cell shape changes themselves. This proposal will address this gap by identifying the molecular links between DELLA growth repressors, cell expansion-related gene expression and the quantitative effect these components have on cellular geometry. Using a computational analysis of cell shape in combination with the network-driven meta-analysis of publicly available gene expression data, this project will identify the conserved tissue-specific gene networks driving cell expansion in plant cells. The work will as well identify the molecular basis predisposing the ability of a plant cell to expand. This work will collectively provide a multi-scale link between gene expression and protein abundance with the quantitative changes in cellular geometry diving plant morpogenesis.
Planned Impact
Software generated as part of the project will be made freely available, and IP generated though other aspects of the work exploited through the University of Nottingham Research and Innovation Services Department. Gene network information will be made freely available through an on-line queryable web site as we have previously done (http://vseed.nottingham.ac.uk). This research will be an informal collaboration to develop the open-source software package MorphoGraphX with Professor Richard Smith (University of Bern, Switzerland) (see letter of support for this application). Impact activities will be undertaken by Professor Michael Holdsworth, publications will be written by Professor Michael Holdsworth and the named researcher Dr George Bassel and other collaborators as apropriate, and software development (including web page development) will be undertaken by all members of the proposal. Pathways to Impact will be monitored and evaluated every six months. Web site impact will be monitored by collecting website statistics. Monitoring web site statistics will be carried out using the free tool Statcounter (http://statcounter.com/).
Organisations
Publications
Mitchell J
(2020)
Low temperature stimulates spatial molecular reprogramming of the Arabidopsis seed germination programme
in Seed Science Research
Mitchell J
(2017)
Variability in seeds: biological, ecological, and agricultural implications.
in Journal of experimental botany
Mimault M
(2019)
Smoothed particle hydrodynamics for root growth mechanics
in Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements
Johnston IG
(2018)
Identification of a bet-hedging network motif generating noise in hormone concentrations and germination propensity in Arabidopsis.
in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Jackson MDB
(2019)
Global Topological Order Emerges through Local Mechanical Control of Cell Divisions in the Arabidopsis Shoot Apical Meristem.
in Cell systems
Jackson MDB
(2017)
Network-based approaches to quantify multicellular development.
in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Jackson MD
(2017)
Topological analysis of multicellular complexity in the plant hypocotyl.
in eLife
Hossain MR
(2016)
Trait Specific Expression Profiling of Salt Stress Responsive Genes in Diverse Rice Genotypes as Determined by Modified Significance Analysis of Microarrays.
in Frontiers in plant science
Description | - germination initiated in radicle - cellular level mechanical models of whole organ growth - a role for cell size, shape and organization in mechanical growth and interactions in cells. displacement of growth from site where germiantion is initiated following mechanical constraints |
Exploitation Route | Use by the plant breeding and seed treatment industries to improve the germination performance of seeds and selling establishment. |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |