WP6

IRD (Lead), UMIL, UZH, CONICET, UA

WP6 is dedicated to research and training, mainly through the implementation of a total of 30 secondment-months. Building on our preliminary results, and combining imaging and functional approaches, WP6 focuses on the cellular parameters of the early ovule associated with, and predicting, the plasticity of the differentiation of the germline precursor cell, the MMC, in sexual and apomictic plants. We will address the following objectives:

1) Build 3D cellular atlas of early ovule development, comparing cell number, cell size and cell shape, in sexual and apomictic variants (including natural apomictic and mutants mimicking apomixis).

2) Integrate cellular behaviour descriptors – i.e. cell division, cell growth, and germline differentiation – to explain the dynamics of ovule growth plasticity in relation with MMC formation in sexual and apomictic variants.

D6.1: 3D cellular atlas of early ovules in the selected variants (P. rufum, maize, Arabidopsis), and their respective controls.
D6.2: Quantification of cell proliferation in the selected variants (P. rufum, maize, Arabidopsis) and their respective controls.
D6.3: Quantification of anisotropy of cell growth, cell wall changes in the selected variants (P. rufum, maize, Arabidopsis) and their respective controls.
D6.4: Characterisation of MMC fate, organ-level and cellular growth phenotypes in Arabidopsis transgenic lines perturbing cell wall composition in specific domains of the ovule.
D6.5: mRNA ISH expression patterns of known MMC genes to identify female germline markers in P. rufum and maize.