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Project properties |
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| Title | Investigating the evolution of plant development in the fern Ceratopteris |
| Group | Biochemistry, Laboratory of |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Sjoerd Woudenberg |
| Examiner(s) | Dolf Weijers |
| Contact info | Sjoerd.Woudenberg@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2023/07/01 |
| End date | 2025/06/01 |
| Description | Research on plant development and their molecular regulation has long focussed on the classical model plants Arabidopsis and recently also bryophyte species like Marchantia. To complement our knowledge, we are incorporating the fern species Ceratopteris in the lab as an evolutionary midway species. Moreover, ferns allow us to answer specific questions due to their unique life cycle which till now were difficult to answer. For example, the evolutionary trajectory of hormone signalling and organogenesis.
The aim of this project is to better understand how vasculature, root and leaf development happen on a cellular and molecular basis in the fern Ceratopteris and how this relates to our knowledge of other model plants. The experimental work includes confocal microscopy and 3D reconstruction under different hormone treatments together with molecular biology to understand the underlying genetic regulation. However, there is a lot of freedom for exploration and initiatives. |
| Used skills | Microscopy, tissue culture, image analysis. Molecular and cell biology, |
| Requirements | Depends on study program
Basic understanding of plant biology |