Wild type and scm-2 Arabidopsis roots.
Cell Fate in Plants
We are studying molecular mechanism of cell fate determination in roots of Arabidopsis, the model plant. Multicellular organisms including humans begin their lives as a single cell, called zygote. Along with numerous times of cell division, each cell decides their fates and develops into specialized cells with their own functions and shapes. This procedure is called differentiation. The whole body of multicellular organisms is the result of organization of those differentiated cells. Therefore, cell division, cell fate determination, differentiation and pattern formation must be regulated correctly with amazing precision. How do cells adopt different fate and differentiate into different cells even though all of them have the same genome? This is the fundamental question of developmental biology. We are trying to answer the questions: how plant cells determine their fate? What is the molecular mechanism? What are the cues that regulate cell fate determination and differentiation?
PI, Su-Hwan Kwak, PhD, assistant professor
Su-hwan.kwak(at)liu.edu
We are welcoming students who are interested in and devoted to plant molecular biology research.
