Project properties
Title Modeling Preprophase Band Formation using CytoSim
Group Plant Cell Biology, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 24-36
Supervisor(s) Prof. Dr. Bela Mulder
Examiner(s) Dr. Jan W. Vos
Contact info Dr. Jan W. Vos, tel: 0317-484321, E-mail: janw.vos@wur.nl
Prof. Dr. Bela M. Mulder, tel: 020-6081234, E-mail: b.mulder@amolf.nl
Begin date 2008/01/01
End date 2009/12/31
Description After mitosis in plant cells, during cytokinesis, a new cell wall is build within the mother cell that physically divides it into two daughter cells. Because plant cells cannot move relative to each other, the positioning of these new walls during plant development has a major impact on the morphology of the plant and on the shape and location of differentiated plant cells, such as the stomates. In most plant cells, the position of the new cell wall coincides with the position of the preprophase band (PPB), which is formed and again broken down before mitosis. The PPB is a ring of cytoskeletal elements in the cortex of the plant cell, which forms over a period of two hours and again disappears within 3 to 5 minutes at the onset of mitosis. It is thought that some sort of marker is left behind that serves as homing signal for the growing cell wall during cytokinesis. The dynamics of the most conspicuous components of the PPB ring, the microtubules, have been described and quantified (Vos et al., 2004). It seems that they become more dynamic during this phase and possibly longer. We have proposed a type of “search and capture” mechanism to explain the formation of the PPB.
We are interested in modeling the process of PPB formation and its sudden breakdown more quantitatively, so that we may better understand the mechanics of the process. This will help us understand the role of the PPB with respect to the process of cytokinesis. More directly, we will be able to predict the dynamics of the microtubules within the band and the outcome of future cell biological experiments using microtubule drugs. Since some years, a Java language based simulation program is available called CytoSim. It was developed by François Nédélec at the EMBL in Heidelberg (Nédélec, 2002) specifically to simulate the stochastic dynamics of microtubules in the cell. You will familiarize yourself with CytoSim and other modeling techniques and simulate conditions that cause the self-directed concentration of microtubules to a narrow domain. Part of the work will be done at PCB and part of the work will be done at AMOLF in Amsterdam.
Used skills Computer programming, theory of biomolecular matter, modeling and digital image analysis.
Requirements Completed B.Sc. in biology (eg. specialization A, B or E), molecular biology, biotechnology or plant sciences, PCB-30306 or PCB-90303