Dr Vicky Spencer (currently at the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Vienna) has been awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. The scheme is for outstanding early-career research scientists who have the potential to become leaders in their field.
Vicky will explore the diverse and novel ways in which plants produce shoot branches. Branches are essential for structural support, long-distance transport, and the production of new organs, such as leaves. The common ancestor of all plants produced new branches by splitting a pre-existing branch into two, in a process known as dichotomous branching, or “dichotomy”. This form of branching still occurs in many spore-producing plants, including the lycophytes and liverworts.
Investigating how new branches are produced by dichotomy in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha will reveal previously unknown genetic regulators of stem cells in meristems. Understanding how meristems expand and contract during dichotomy may reveal new approaches to improving crop yields, as meristem size is associated with the size of leaves and seeds. Similarly, understanding how and when branches are made could pave the way to new methods of modifying plant branching architecture to maximise their economic value in a changing environment.
Vicky says:
I am very excited to establish my own research group investigating how plants generate diverse patterns of shoot branching, and I am extremely grateful to the Royal Society for giving me this opportunity. It is a privilege to have the time and resources to develop my independent research programme, and I look forward to becoming part of the active and vibrant research community in the Department of Biology.
