Molecular Genetics of Plant Development

The shape of plant cells and ultimately the entire plant is defined by the cell wall surrounding each cell. Cell walls not only protect the plant from biotic and abiotic stresses but also determine the extent and direction of the cell expansion.

Plant cell walls are complex structures of different interwoven polysaccharides and proteins and their composition strongly depends on the developmental stage of the cell. While the biosynthesis of the different components of cell walls is quite well understood, the regulatory mechanism controlling their assembly still remains largely elusive.

Using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system, our lab is characterizing different factors that influence cell growth and cell wall formation. On one hand, we are analyzing regulatory proteins in the cell wall that directly affect cell wall development. Alternatively, the TOR (Target of Rapamycin) pathway, a major growth controller of eukaryotes, is an intracellular growth regulator which in plants seems to influence cell wall development. Cell growth can also be influenced by plant secondary metabolites that affect cellular processes; the exact mode of action is currently being investigated. Finally, we are assessing the contribution of individual components of the cell wall to its mechanical property.

• LRX proteins play a crucial role in pollen grain and pollen tube cell wall development
  Ndinyanka Fabrice T, Vogler H, Draeger C, Munglani G, Gupta S, Herger AG, Knox JP, Grossniklaus U, Ringli C
  Plant Physiol https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.17.01374 (2017)
• Transmission electron microscopy imaging to analyze chromatin density distribution at the nanoscale level
  Ndinyanka Fabrice T, Cherkezyan L, Ringli C, Baroux C.
  Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol. 1675, 10.1007/978-1-4939-7318-7_34  (2017)
• RALF4/19 peptides interact with LRX proteins to control pollen tube growth in Arabidopsis 
  Mecchia, Martin A.; Santos-Fernandez, Gorka; Duss, Nadine N.; et al. 
  SCIENCE, 358 (6370): 1600-1603 10.1126/science.aao5467  DEC 22 2017
• Efficient preparation of Arabidopsis pollen tubes for ultrastructural analysis using chemical and cryo-fixation 
  Fabrice, Tohnyui Ndinyanka; Kaech, Andres; Barmettler, Gery; et al. 
  BMC PLANT BIOLOGY, 17:  10.1186/s12870-017-1136-x OCT 27 2017
• Flavonol-induced changes in PIN2 polarity and auxin transport in the Arabidopsis thaliana rol1-2 mutant require phosphatase activity 
  Kuhn, Benjamin M.; Nodzynski, Tomasz; Errafi, Sanae; et al. 
  SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7: 10.1038/srep41906  FEB 6 2017
• Characterization of size-dependent mechanical properties of tip-growing cells using a lab-on-chip deviced 
  Hu, Chengzhi; Munglani, Gautam; Vogler, Hannes; et al. 
  LAB ON A CHIP, 17 (1): 82-90, 10.1039/c6lc01145d  2017

• Cell wall development
• Root hair formation
• Pollen tube growth
• Immunological analysis of cell walls

• Plant metabolomics
• Structural identification of secondary metabolites
• Arabidopsis / yeast equivalency in growth-regulatory processes
• Biofuels