Plants are sessile and must cope with the environment by biochemical and developmental responses. As a consequence, plants display a considerable amount of developmental plasticity. Mounting evidence suggests that this plasticity results from the convergence of developmental and environmental signaling networks; the response pathway to stress-induced hormones jasmonate (JA), salicylic acid, abscisic acid and ethylene influence plant growth by interacting with signaling pathways that respond to growth signals like gibberellin, brassinolide, cytokinin and auxin in regions of plant growth. In the past decade, we have gained an increasing knowledge about environmental control of overall plant growth, and previous studies have shown that stress hormones (e.g. JA, abscisic acid and ethylene) regulate the division rate of organizer cells in the root stem cell niche. But we still lack an understanding of developmental mechanisms underlying plant cellular plasticity during stem cell regulation and regeneration. How are key stem cells factors recruited by abiotic and biotic environmental signals?

We plan to use a combination of cellular, genetic and molecular biology techniques to perform experiments focused on abiotic/biotic stresses and stem cell regulation in Arabidopsis and Maize. We hope to further understand the mechanisms of plant developmental plasticity. And in the future, we will apply the knowledge gained from model plants into crops, to contribute to a sustainable agriculture.

(^#corresponding author, *co-first author)

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