Pectin Controls the Chirality of Plant Cells

Speaker: 
Adam Saffer
Seminar Date: 
Friday, September 8, 2017 - 8:30am
Location: 
BECTON SEMINAR ROOM See map
Prospect Street
New Haven, CT
Although specific organs in some plant species exhibit helical growth patterns of fixed or variable handedness, plant organs typically grow in a linear and non-chiral fashion. I am investigating the sources of chirality in plant growth and the factors that allow most plant tissues to grow non-helically. Plant cells are surrounded by cell walls composed primarily of polysaccharides, which control growth and cell expansion. I have found that decreasing the abundance of a specific cell wall pectic polysaccharide causes dramatic left-handed helical growth of petal epidermal cells, leading to left-handed twisted petals. These findings reveal a novel source of left-handed plant growth caused by changes in cell wall composition and implicate pectin in the control of plant cell patterning. In this talk, I will discuss ongoing work into how cell wall composition controls the chirality and helical growth of plant cells and organs.
 
Host: 
Corey O'Hern
Seminar Announcement Brochure: 

It appears your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. Download adobe Acrobat or click here to download the PDF file.