Land Plant Gametophytes
In general, plants exhibit "alternation of generations" between haploid gametophyte and diploid sporophyte stages. Gametophytes and Sporophytes are multicellular structures that produce either the gametes or spores respectively. While the gametophyte stage underwent a massive reduction in size and lifespan in the flowering plant lineage, in early diverging land plants such as the liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha, the gametophyte is the dominant life stage and primary body of the plant.
Gametophyte growth
The haploid nature of Marchantia gametophytes, combined with their small genome, fast growth, simple tissue organization, evolutionary position, and ease of genetic transformation make them excellent model organisms for studying plant biology. Furthermore, there is a reduction in genetic redundancy in many gene families, facilitating analysis of signalling pathways and investigating their evolution. For example, the CrRLK1L signalling pathway in Arabidopsis includes 17 CrRLK1L receptors, 4 LRE co-receptors, and 37 RALF ligands, whereas in Marchantia there is only 1 CrRLK1L, 2 LRE, and 3 RALF homologs.
Growth analysis
My research is currently aimed at investigating how the Marchantia CrRLK1L pathway regulates cell growth in various tissues. I am taking tradition gene characterization approaches combined with more modern synthetic biology and imaging practices to ultimately create a basic model for how CrRLK1L signaling functions!
