Signalling networks in plant cell differentiation

We are interested in a key question of developmental biology: how stem cell identity is determined and how the ratio between stem cells and differentiating cells is balanced. To this end we try to characterize the signalling networks in and between cells required to balance stem cell turn over in the process of plant organ formation.

In contrast to animals, plant organ development mainly occurs postembryonically and is highly adaptive to the environment. Moreover differentiated plant cells retain the capacity to dedifferentiate to acquire a new cell fate and even to produce a whole new organism. We use Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system to elucidate the molecular basis of this developmental flexibility and to elaborate the conceptual differences to the determinate nature of animal development.