Advances in live-cell imaging technology and the collection of cell marker lines have allowed to visualize dynamic movement of gamete cells and nuclei during fertilization. Very recently, live imaging of embryo development in the model plant Arabidopsis become possible. One of our lab focuses is to understand the dynamic movement and importance of cytoskeleton during fertilization and seed development through live-cell imaging.

The evolution of land plants is marked by at least three reproductive innovations: (i) the establishment of multicellular sporophytes by bryophytes, (ii) the acquisition of elaborate reproductive structures including seeds and pollens in gymnosperms, and (iii) the invention of flowers and double fertilization in angiosperms. Marchantia polymorpha is a bryophyte, considered as one of the earliest diverging land plants. Using Marchantia and Arabidopsis, our lab would like to establish an Evo-Devo project to understand how land plants acquired important reproductive traits during evolution.

How do plants control the seed size and number that directly link to our seed crop yield? Seed development is so complex that we still do not know what exactly is happening inside the seed during its development. Our laboratory has developed a method to visualize inside the live-seed and investigate real-time seed development. Using Arabidopsis and soybean, we are now deciphering the molecular and cellular dynamics within the seed to identify what contributes to the determination of the final seed size to eventually produce larger seeds for better yield.

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Experience

Assistant Professor (2016-Present)
Plant & Soil Sciences Department, University of Kentucky

Senior Research Fellow (2014–2016)
Gregor Mendel Institute, Austria – Fred Berger group

Research Fellow (2010–2014)
Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore - Fred Berger Group