Most organisms produce much more offspring beyond what is required. This strategy not only contributes to their reproduction, but also benefits human being. The determination of offspring number involves multiple important processes, such as cell fate determination, cell division and differentiation, and organogenesis. Studying this question has both scientific significance and potential application. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, ovule (the precursor of seed) primordia initiate from linear placentae and arranged evenly. The process can be used as a one-dimensional model to study the seed number determination and explore in depth the regulatory mechanisms of cell division, cell differentiation, and cell fate determination. Furthermore, it is also a good example for investigating the uniform distribution of surface features in organisms. At present, the theory of pattern and regulation of ovule primordia initiation has been established, and the signal network regulating ovule initiation and ovule/seed number by internal and external environments has been analyzed. For next step, we will investigate the impact of organelles and intracellular molecular trafficking on the determination cell fate and the offspring number. 

Speaker

Prof. Wenhui Lin

School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, SJTU

Time

 2024.12.18 12:00-13:30