Research
As a research group, we use the development of stomata (two-celled valves on the surface of plants that enable exchange of atmospheric CO2 for plant derived oxygen and water vapor) as a model for cell fate, cell polarity and flexible, adaptive development in plants.
We use a variety of genetic, genomic, and imaging techniques to investigate tissue development, including following gene expression in individual cells and modifying the behavior of those cells in intact, developing organs. We do much of this work in Arabidopsis because of the many tools available in this established model, but we also been expanding into new systems like tomato and Brachypodium (a relative of wheat) or digging into the natural genetic diversity of Arabidopsis collected from around the world, or from hundreds of years ago. These latter projects are part of an effort to understand how developmental flexibility is created, and how this flexibility may be shaped by selection--natural, or through domestication and human preferences. Overall, we aim to shed light on how plants achieve their remarkable capacity to optimize development for the prevailing climate, or in anticipation of future climates.
Click on one of the six figures below to get the full story...
Cell identity and genetic circuitry
From a foundation of single genes with major effects, we’re building out the network of genetic interactions and pathways that define cell fates in the leaf. Current projects use single cell technologies (RNA-seq, ATAC-seq) and single cell type epigenetics and proteomics to resolve the genes and genetic circuits that play key roles in cell identity and transitions between identities.
Cell and tissue polarity
Cell polarity and asymmetric cell divisions sit at the heart of many developmental decisions. Our recent efforts center on defining the cellular functions of polarity and the proteins that execute those functions in plants.
Lineage dynamics
Leaves are both mostly the same, and completely different, each one made of cells that divide and grow in ways that we can’t predict. Yet collectively, these individual cellular actions lead to a coordinated whole. Mathematical modeling combined with long term imaging and experimental manipulation is letting us decipher the design principles of flexible, yet robust organ growth.
Comparative development
Here we are harnessing new genome and genome engineering technologies to learn from the millions of years of experimentation and selection on stomata and leaf traits performed in nature.
Environmental response and adaptation
Stomata both regulate and are regulated by global carbon and water cycles. We are identifying the genetic circuitry by which plants perceive environmental cues and respond by creating the appropriate number and patterns of stomata to thrive in changing and challenging climates.
Enabling technologies for Plant Biology
In our pursuit of understanding behaviors of genes and cells in the context of a developing organ we have needed new transcriptomic, proteomic and computation tools. Whenever possible, we try to make these tools generalizable and available to the broader research community.