When crops grow up - determining the regulatory control of developmental transitions in Brassicas

Plants sustain life on the earth. They are fascinating organisms and despite their importance there is still much we don't understand, such as how they integrate information to shape their growth and development. Plants undergo several developmental transitions throughout their lifecycle, which are sensitive to both environmental and endogenous stimuli. Within Brassica oleracea, some varieties have been documented as passing through a juvenile phase, where the shoot apical meristem is unable to respond to environmental cues that lead to the induction of flowering. Only after the plant has transitioned to the adult vegetative phase, will it respond to these cues. This project will combine sequencing techniques, genetics, phenotyping and computational approaches to unravel the control logic underpinning key stages of plant development.