Thesis opportunities of the Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology
Here you will find all the thesis projects from the Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology. Interested? Please contact us.
Cellular polarity and dynamics (Ketelaar Group)
In this project we aim to understand how the polarity cues provided by the microtubule cytoskeleton are transduced to the growing cell tip. We have identified several kinesin motor proteins that localize in the tip. Deletion of these kinesins causes diverse defects including a reduced responsiveness to extracellular cues and disruption of growth. Using molecular cloning, moss transformation and genotyping, we will generate lines with fluorescently tagged kinesins, markers and deletions. These lines will be used for quantitative microscopic analysis of the growth and microtubule defects using spinning disk confocal microscopy. With your help, we will be able to decipher the mechanisms that control growth directionality.
Intercellular communication via plasmodesmata (Keijzer Group)
Plant developmental instructions are often distributed among cells and organs. The direct route available to facilitate transport of such signals is via plasmodesmata. These are specialized structures that bridge neighboring plant cells and interconnect their cytoplasm. How the biology of plasmodesmata intersects with the distribution of developmental signals is still an underexplored question. We therefore want to find out how the regulated conductivity of plasmodesmata steers cells within a tissue to assume a certain role or identity. Hereby we focus on questions like: When and where are plasmodesmata conductive? What proteins facilitate this? What are the relevant cargoes? In which developmental contexts does transport matter? And do these constitute evolutionary conserved mechanisms?
Stem cell specification and regeneration (Heidstra Group)
A central question in biology is what determines the fate of a cell, tissue or even organ. Fate decisions taking place during embryogenesis are reiterated during the life of the plant to generate the adult architecture. Starting point in our studies on fate specification is the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and its anatomically simple root is.
De novo meristem formation (Kohlen Group)
My team is interested in unravelling the underlying molecular-physiological mechanisms that control a plants ability to initiate new axes of growth. We aim to integrate transcriptional and metabolomic data to generate a transcriptional metabolomic network.
Plant architecture in relation to the environment (Willemsen Group)
Within my team we study key cellular and developmental mechanisms in plants. Our group investigates pattern formation, cell polarity, cell cycle, growth and regeneration, also in response to mutualistic microbes.
Plasma Membrane Structure ©Hotpot (Grones Group)
Unraveling of Plasma Membrane Structure