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Project properties |
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| Title | Effects of Spatial Constraints in Cell and Development of Plant Cells |
| Group | Cell Biology |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 12 to 36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Jordi Floriach-Clark, Viola Villemsen |
| Examiner(s) | Prof. Viola Willemsen |
| Contact info | jordi.floriach-clark@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2024/05/01 |
| End date | 2026/01/01 |
| Description | The moss Physcomitrium patens is a plant model excellent for the study of cell division and polarity due to its reduced size and easy observation under the microscope. Its life cycle consists in two main growth fashions: a 2D filamentous stage (protonemata) and a 3D plantlet stage (gametophore). In the 2D stage, growth occurs from the tip (apical growth), and side branching occurs in older cells with a consistent localization: the apical site. This seems a highly regulated process that implies fine-tuned cell polarity.
• Is the polarity of the cell affected or modified in some way when the growing space is reduced? • How could spatial constraints affect this process? • How does this situation reflect into the cytoskeleton and proteins associated to cell polarity? This project will use cutting-edge microfluidic technology (the use self-designed micrometer-sized channels with tunnels, openings and obstacles and tunnels) that you will be able to design, produce and test. These devices will be used to grow moss under different restraining conditions and applying several (bio)chemicals to single cells in their cellular context to induce and/or monitor filament branching and budding (gametophore formation). Different stainings, reporter lines and mutant lines will be analysed using high-end microscopy to try to answer the research questions. The project has a notable degree of freedom depending on your background, research interests and creativity. |
| Used skills | Confocal Microscopy, Microfluidics (no need of previous knowledge), Graphic data analysis, Statistics. |
| Requirements | Experience in cell biology and microscopy |