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A quantitative study of periodic patterning in growing multicellular tissues: understanding trichome development

Project description

Insight into key developmental processes in plants

The development of living organisms involves tightly coordinated processes that instruct each cell type, tissue, and organ to perform specific functions. This is achieved through the interplay of pattern formation, cell growth, and division. While patterning processes are well-documented in many systems, the effect of cell growth on pattern formation is less understood. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PaTrich project will explore trichomes - the hair-like structures on the surface of plants - as a model for studying pattern formation. Researchers will combine quantitative image analysis, mathematical modelling, and computer simulations to elucidate pattern formation in plants.

Objective

The development of living organisms involves tightly coordinated regulatory mechanisms that reliably instruct each cell type, tissue, and organ to perform specific functions. This is achieved through an elaborate interplay between pattern formation, cellular growth, and division. Patterning processes occurring as cells grow and divide are present in many biological systems. These include the generation of digits in the vertebrate limb and the specification of trichomes in the leaf epidermis of Arabidopsis, among many other examples. Still, the effect of cellular growth and division on pattern formation remains poorly understood. Because of the difference in time scales, pattern formation, and growth have been typically studied separately; however, in many developmental processes, these two time scales are comparable, and the effect of growth on patterning must be considered explicitly. In this project, I will combine quantitative image analysis, mathematical modelling, and computer simulations to understand the interplay between cellular patterning and growth, by focusing on trichome development. Trichomes constitute an optimal model to test fundamental principles of pattern formation in growing tissues, because there is a good understanding of the underlying gene regulatory networks, and the pattern formation process can be tracked over time. This project will be developed in collaboration with leading experts in the field: the Hülskamp lab, providing the experimental data, and the Fleck lab, providing the theoretical expertise in the regulatory networks underlying trichome patterning. The findings resulting from this project will elucidate general principles of pattern formation in plants and other living organisms during tissue growth.

Keywords

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 173 847,36
Address
HOFGARTENSTRASSE 8
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany

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Region
Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

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