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| b | Christopher D. Day Assistant Professor of Botany Ph.D. University of Edinburgh, 1992 Office:
338 Birge Hall Organogenesis in the floral meristem; cell proliferation, cell growth, cell-cell interactions. |
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The regulation of organismal size is an important and open question in animal and plant development. In plants, the flower is ideal to address this question because there is a large variation of size, shape and number of both petals and stamens. Using Arabidopsis genetics, our goal is to identify factors that coordinate cell proliferation, cell growth and cell-cell interactions during morphogenesis. A serious hurdle when studying cell proliferation and cell growth, in the context of a multicellular organism, is that genes affecting these processes will often lead to embryo lethal phenotypes. To circumvent the early lethality and study the role of these genes later in development, we are using Cre-lox to generate marked mutant clones in specific tissues of interest. Such mosaic analysis allows us to identify gene functions and mutant/wild-type cell interactions that cannot be observed using traditional mutant screens. Our current research focuses on genes that function in the floral meristem. To this end we are using genetic screens to identify new genetic factors, as well as testing candidate genes. This work will contribute to our understanding of how cell division and growth is coordinated during morphogenesis. Such information is vital for identifying the mechanisms leading to the diversity of flowering plants. Representative Publications: Day, C.D., Lee, E ., Kobayashi, J., Holappa, L., Albert, H,. and Ow, D. (2000). Transgene integration into the same chromosome location can produce alleles that express at a predictable level, or alleles that are differentially silenced. Genes and Development 14, 2869-2880. Hill, T.A., Day, C.D., Zondlo, S.C., Thackeray, A.G. and Irish, V.F. (1998). Discrete spatial and temporal cis-acting elements regulate transcription of the Arabidopsis floral homeotic gene APETALA3. Development 125, 1711-1721. Day, C.D. and Irish, V.F. (1996). Genetic ablation as a tool for studying plant development. Trends in Plant Science 2, 106-111. Irish, V.F., Day, C.D., Carr, S., Hill, T., Jenik, P. and Wright, E. (1996). Petal and stamen development during floral development. Flowering Newsletter 21, 21-26. Day, C.D., Galgoci, B.F.C. and Irish, V.F. (1995).
Genetic ablation of petal and stamen primordia to
elucidate cell interactions during floral development.
Development 121, 2887-2895. Courses | Research Group | Additional Publications | COS Listing | Physiology Section | Botany Department © 2000
University of Wisconsin Department of Botany |
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