Postdoctoral work (Sep 2014 - Present)

Building the moss P. patens leaf developmental model

During my PhD, it was hypothesized that diagonal to rectilinear cell progression of cell arrangement in moss, Physcomitrella patens (P. patens), leaves was a result of cell rotation. The model showed some discrepancies with respect to the real leaf, e.g., the modeled leaf is relatively too wide, and does not properly capture the linear arrangement of cells along the leaf axis. The results of my PhD work had a significant value, since one of the objectives of modeling is to sharpen questions for further study and lead to specific gap in understanding of leaf development in Physcomitrella patens. The development of P. patens leaves turned out to be complex than originally thought. You can obviously see the difference between the simulated leaf during my PhD studies and current Postdoctoral work.

During my Postdoctoral period, an alternative hypothesis has been explored in which change in cell's shape rather than rotation gives rise to rectilinear cell files. Our hypothesis has been supported by the recent confocal data by our collaborators Dr. Jill Harrison (University of Cambridge) and Dr. Elizabeth Barker (University of Regina). The modeling hypotheses are supported and validated by our collaborators with their new confocal data and findings. We are in the process of publishing our results in a premium plant journal by Feb 2015. A short description description of how I arrived at the final developmental model can be downloaded by the clicking the pdf file at the bottom of the page.