Project Reference: TRG27-SLB-JL1

Project title: Variable and noisy gene expression in the Arabidopsis shoot meristem

Project outline

The shoot apical meristem is a small stem-cell niche that continuously generates the above-ground organs of a plant. Despite its highly organised structure, cells with apparently similar identities can show striking differences in gene expression. This variability may simply be noise that development must buffer, or it may provide flexibility that helps stem cells respond to changing developmental and environmental signals.

This project will determine where this cell-to-cell variability comes from and what it does. Building on our recent single-nucleus RNA-seq atlas of the Arabidopsis shoot meristem, the student will ask how variability in key developmental regulators is shaped by cell-cycle state, hormone signalling and a cell's precise position within the meristem.

The student will combine multiplexed RNA imaging of regulators such as WUS, CLV and STM with hormone and cell-cycle reporters, high-resolution live confocal microscopy, single-cell transcriptomics and spatial transcriptomic approaches. These data will be integrated with quantitative models to separate stochastic variability from differences caused by cell state and spatial context, and to test how variability affects robust stem-cell maintenance and cell-fate decisions.

The project brings together the Locke and Jönsson groups in Cambridge and an established international collaboration with Professor Elliot Meyerowitz at Caltech. The student will interact closely with the Meyerowitz laboratory, with opportunities for research visits to Caltech, gaining complementary expertise in shoot meristem biology and quantitative imaging.

Principal Supervisor

Professor James Locke

Email address: james.locke@slcu.cam.ac.uk

Department / Partner Institute: Sainsbury Laboratory

Website: https://www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/people/james-locke

BBSRC strategic theme

Understanding the rules of life