The Barton Lab | Department of Plant Biology

Barton Lab

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(Members of Barton and Evans Labs Spring 2014. The two labs share lab space at The Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Plant Biology on the Stanford Campus. Top row (left to right): Lance Cabalona, Matt Evans, Clayton Coker, Antony Chettoor; Standing: Nidhi Sharma and YongXian Lu; Seated: Tie Liu, Adam Longhurst, Kathy Barton, Stephanie May, Franklin Talavera-Rauh. Not shown: Sam Hokin)

The Barton lab studies how plants make new leaves and stems from clusters of undifferentiated cells located at the tips of branches. These clusters of cells are called apical meristems and contain within them a small number of self renewing stem cells. Within the meristem, the decision as to what type of cell a cell ultimately becomes is controlled by a network of transcription factors. Recently, our studies have identified points where environmental signals interact with this intrinsic genetic program to modify growth. We hypothesize this interaction serves to coordinate the production of leaves and stems with the availability of water and nutrients. The understanding of plant growth and development gained from these studies establishes a foundation that can be used to breed resilient plants, thereby increasing food security in the face of a changing environment.

Research Projects

- Establishment of Ad/Abaxial Polarity in the Leaf and Embryo

- Shoot Apical Meristem Formation and Maintenance

- Partitioning fates in the Apical Meristem: Early Steps in Leaf Formation

- Interaction Between Stress Response Pathways and Developmental Pathways

- Control of Vegetative Growth by the Ad/Abaxial Developmental Pathway and the Abscisic Acid Signaling Pathway

- Novel pathways to drought resistance.

- Overlap Between KNOX Regulated Genes and Stress Response Genes.

Teaching

- BIO34N - Stanford University - Freshman Seminar on Hunger

- RISE Program for High School Student Summer Research (Stanford University)

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