Division plane orientation in plant cells

Plants have three primary methods for establishing a body plan: division, expansion and differentiation. Therefore, cell division patterning, particularly the orientation of division, is crucial for plant development. Moreover, division plane orientation is important for all eukaryotic cells, and plants serve as useful model organisms for studying this process. Little is known about the factors that control proper orientation of the division plane in plants, however, recent data suggests that sequential modification of the plant division site is essential for the final proper orientation of cell division. This research identifies the proteins responsible for controlling division plane orientation in Arabidopsis thaliana, maize and tobacco cultured cells. The experimental approaches include live cell imaging, biochemistry, and reverse and forward genetics. The expected outcome of this research is identification of a plant division site interactome placed within the temporal context of the cell cycle and within the interacting network of other proteins. Elucidating the process of plant division plane orientation will provide new tools and resources for modifying plants through control of cell division planes which may lead to next generation improvements in crop plants.

This research is currently funded by NSF-CAREER grant #1942734 (2020-2024) and NSF-MCB #2426623 (2024-2026)

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Carolyn Rasmussen
University of California, Riverside
900 E. University Ave.
3119B Genomics
Riverside, CA 92521