Website Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
We are looking for a highly motivated scientist with a keen interest in developmental biology on vascular development to work on a postdoctoral scholarship in Hannele Tuominen’s group at Umeå Plant Science Centre.
Secondary growth of plants is formed by the meristematic tissues of the vascular cambium. While the regulation of cambial activity is increasingly understood, the mechanisms that regulate initiation of the vascular cambium are largely unknown. Vascular cambium is induced in the stem by formation and fusion of the fascicular cambium and the interfascicular cambium, the latter seemingly forming from completely undifferentiated cells. It is possible that signals from the primary vascular bundles are involved in initiation of the cambium but other factors, such as tissue mechanics, cannot be excluded.
We have previously conducted high-resolution transcriptomic analyses of stem tissues of aspen trees, which has resulted in identification of tissue-specific gene expression patterns and co-expression networks. The current project aims to elucidate initiation of cambium in aspen trees with improved spatial resolution. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses will be performed in single cells and in specific tissues isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM), accompanied by analysis of the mechanical properties in stem tissues initiating secondary growth.
To apply for this job please visit www.upsc.se.