Research

Here’s a brief description of my PhD work.

Plant cortical microtubules

Microtubules (MTs) are dynamic polymers found within various cell types, serving a vital role in apsects such as (but not limited to) cell morphology and division. In plant cells, certain MTs known as cortical mictrotubules (CMTs) organize along the cell membrane, shown below in images of Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyl (stem of the seedling) cells.

Note the differing orientations of the CMTs relative to the long axis of the cell. The orientation of these CMT arrays during cell development is important for the synthesis of cellulose, and subsequently, the cell morphology.

My research aims to answer: what factors are important in this process of CMT self-organization? Lending itself quite nicely to quantitative modelling, this field has a history of such approaches.