Plant Development and Evolution

We wish to understand how diverse biological forms develop and evolve. A combination of molecular, genetic, imaging and modelling approaches are being used to understand how genes and growth interact to create specific shapes during development and how this is related to patterns of evolutionary diversity. We exploit Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis as model systems to study problems such as flower shape and asymmetry, leaf shape and plant architecture. Expertise includes genetics, transposon-tagging, in situ hybridisation, 3D imaging, image analysis and computer modelling of shape and growth.