Postdoctoral Fellowship: PRFB: Developing Streptocarpus as a model of meristem formation and plant regeneration

Willoughby, Andrew C, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2024. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Dr. Andrew Willoughby is “Developing Streptocarpus as a model of meristem formation and plant regeneration”. The host institution for the fellowship is Duke University and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Lucia Strader with co-sponsor Dr. John Willis. Biotechnological solutions to societal problems such engineering crop resilience to climate change involve the intermediate step of plant regeneration to produce new plants, which is also a common component of routine plant research. Despite its importance, the ability to harness plant regeneration is limited by the difficulty of finding a set of treatments and growth conditions that coax plant cells to dedifferentiate and become able to produce new plants. This research will use a group of plants in the Gesneriaceae family, Streptocarpus, as a tool to investigate how the processes of plant regeneration are controlled. Streptocarpus has evolved a unique biology that promotes regeneration, the genetic basis of which will be identified and studied through this research. This research program will involve new training opportunities for the Fellow in cutting-edge genomics techniques. Both local and national outreach activities that share the benefits of this research with the public will be conducted. These include the creation of an educational exhibit that will be presented through the duration of the Fellowship at the yearly public conventions of the Gesneriad Society, a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to the growth and conservation of plants in the Gesneriaceae. This research focuses on developing Streptocarpus as a model for plant meristem initiation and regeneration. Meristems harbor plant stem cells that produce organs such as leaves, stems, and fruits. Reactivating meristematic gene expression in differentiated tissues is essential for plant regeneration. However, many plant species are recalcitrant to plant regeneration, which limits plant biotechnology and research opportunities. Streptocarpus plants lack a conventional shoot apical meristem at germination, and instead have shifted the functions of this crucial tissue to the leaves. Unlike in most plants, Streptocarpus leaves can continue to grow indefinitely and can produce new lateral organs. Streptocarpus leaves exhibit an overlap of meristem and leaf gene expression, and are notoriously simple to regenerate. As delocalized meristematic gene expression is fundamental to regeneration, this research will generate new knowledge on meristem initiation and lead to tools to address plant regeneration recalcitrance. Several genomic and transcriptomic resources will be developed through this project, which will be made widely available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/datasets/. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.