Cellular & Developmental Biology
Plant Development
(Intended for 2nd year undergraduates)
Prof. Jim Haseloff, University of Cambridge.
Summary: these four lectures provide an introduction to some striking features of biological self-organisation and morphogenesis using examples from the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant cells are immobile, constrained by a rigid cell wall – yet plant development is plastic and indeterminate. Communication between neighbouring cells controls plant cell fate, and plays a major role in shaping plant growth. The material highlights the major roles that auxin plays in both short-range and long-distance coordination of gene expression and growth.
Plant Development
(Intended for 2nd year undergraduates)
Prof. Jim Haseloff, University of Cambridge.
Summary: these four lectures provide an introduction to some striking features of biological self-organisation and morphogenesis using examples from the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant cells are immobile, constrained by a rigid cell wall – yet plant development is plastic and indeterminate. Communication between neighbouring cells controls plant cell fate, and plays a major role in shaping plant growth. The material highlights the major roles that auxin plays in both short-range and long-distance coordination of gene expression and growth.
Download Lecture notes: (PDF, 4 MB)
Lecture 1: Plant embryogenesis and establishment of the body plan.
Download lecture 1 images: (PDF, 4.5 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 1 slideshow
Lecture 2: Polarity, auxin traffic and auxin response.
Download lecture 2 images: (PDF, 9.4 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 2 slideshow
Lecture 3: Regulation of root initiation and polar growth by auxin.
Download lecture 3 images: (PDF, 5.6 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 3 slideshow
Lecture 4: Meristems and patterning of plant growth
Download lecture 4 images: (PDF, 5.4 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 4 slideshow
Recommended Text books for general background:
For coverage of plant development see: Mechanisms in Plant Development, Ottoline Leyser & Stephen Day, Blackwell Science, UK, 2002.
For an integrated overview of animal and plant development see: Principles of Development, Lewis Wolpert and Cheryll Tickle, Oxford University Press, 2011. Chapter 7 provides a concise overview of content directly relevant to plants.
Extended reading
(Note: these reviews are provided as optional material for anyone who would like to explore further a particular topic)
Lecture 1: Plant embryogenesis and establishment of the body plan.
Field guide to plant model systems.
Chang, C., Bownam, J.L. and Meyerowitz, E.M. Cell 167:325-339 (2016).
Early plant embryogenesis - dark ages or dark matter?
Bayer, M., Slane, D. and Jürgens, G. Curr. Opinion in Plant Biology, 35:30-36 (2017).
Embryogenesis - the humble beginnings of plant life.
Smet, I. D., Lau, S., Mayer, U., & Jurgens, G. The Plant Journal : For Cell and Molecular Biology, 61:959-70 (2010).
Lecture 2: Polarity, auxin traffic and auxin response.
Structure and function of auxin transporters.
Hammes, UZ & Pederson, BP. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 75:185-209 (2024).
Over 25 years of decrypting PIN-mediated plant development.
Luschnig, C & Friml, J. Nat Comm. 15:9904-9916 (2024).
Transcriptional responses to the auxin hormone.
D. Weijers and D. Wagner, Annual Rev. Plant Biol. 67:21.1–21.36 (2016).
Structural biology of nuclear auxin action.
D.C. Dinesh, L.I.A. Calderón Villalobos and S. Abel, Trends in Plant Science, 21:302-315 (2016).
To bind or not to bind: how Auxin Response Factors select their target genes.
Rienstra J, Hernández-García J & Weijers D. J Exp. Bot. 74:6922-6932 (2023).
Lecture 3: Regulation of root initiation and polar growth by auxin.
Building a plant: cell fate specification in the early Arabidopsis embryo.
Colette A. ten Hove, Kuan-Ju Lu and Dolf Weijers. Development 142:420-430 (2015).
Self-organizing periodicity in development: organ positioning in plants.
Bhatia N and Heisler MG. Development (2018) 145:1-11, (2018).
Connecting emerging with existing vasculature above and below ground.
Blanco-Touriñán N & Hardtke CS. Curr Opin Plant Biology. 76:102461 (2023).
The interplay between extracellular and intracellular auxin signaling in plants.
Tang W, Yu Y and Xu T. J Genetic & Genomics 52:14-23 (2025).
Lecture 4: Meristems and patterning of plant growth.
Twenty years on: The inner workings of the shoot apical meristem, a developmental dynamo.
Barton, M. K. Developmental Biology, 341:95-113 (2010).
CLAVATA-WUSCHEL signalling in the shoot meristem.
Somssich, M., Byoung, J., Rüdiger, S. and Jackson, D. Development 143:3238-3248 (2016).
Patterning at the shoot apical meristem and phyllotaxis.
Bihai Shi and Teva Vernoux. Current Topics in Developmental Biology, 131:81-92, (2018).
WUSCHEL in the shoot apical meristem: old player, new tricks.
Filipa Lara Lopes, Carlos Galvan-Ampudia, and Benoit Landrein. Journal of Experimental Botany, 72:527–1535, (2021).
(Click links to download PDF files)
Background reading about Arabidopsis
The development of Arabidopsis as a model plant.
Koornneef, M., & Meinke, D. The Plant Journal : For Cell and Molecular Biology, 61:909-21 (2010).
Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism in systems biology.
Van Norman, J. M., & Benfey, P. N. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Systems Biology and Medicine, 1:372-9 (2009).
For a general discussion of self-organisation across physical and biological systems see:
Nature's patterns: a tapestry in three parts, Shapes, Flow and Branches, Phillip Ball, Oxford University Press, 2009
Lecture 1: Plant embryogenesis and establishment of the body plan.
Download lecture 1 images: (PDF, 4.5 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 1 slideshow
Lecture 2: Polarity, auxin traffic and auxin response.
Download lecture 2 images: (PDF, 9.4 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 2 slideshow
Lecture 3: Regulation of root initiation and polar growth by auxin.
Download lecture 3 images: (PDF, 5.6 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 3 slideshow
Lecture 4: Meristems and patterning of plant growth
Download lecture 4 images: (PDF, 5.4 MB)
Click here to open Lecture 4 slideshow
Recommended Text books for general background:
For coverage of plant development see: Mechanisms in Plant Development, Ottoline Leyser & Stephen Day, Blackwell Science, UK, 2002.
For an integrated overview of animal and plant development see: Principles of Development, Lewis Wolpert and Cheryll Tickle, Oxford University Press, 2011. Chapter 7 provides a concise overview of content directly relevant to plants.
Extended reading
(Note: these reviews are provided as optional material for anyone who would like to explore further a particular topic)
Lecture 1: Plant embryogenesis and establishment of the body plan.
Field guide to plant model systems.
Chang, C., Bownam, J.L. and Meyerowitz, E.M. Cell 167:325-339 (2016).
Early plant embryogenesis - dark ages or dark matter?
Bayer, M., Slane, D. and Jürgens, G. Curr. Opinion in Plant Biology, 35:30-36 (2017).
Embryogenesis - the humble beginnings of plant life.
Smet, I. D., Lau, S., Mayer, U., & Jurgens, G. The Plant Journal : For Cell and Molecular Biology, 61:959-70 (2010).
Lecture 2: Polarity, auxin traffic and auxin response.
Structure and function of auxin transporters.
Hammes, UZ & Pederson, BP. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 75:185-209 (2024).
Over 25 years of decrypting PIN-mediated plant development.
Luschnig, C & Friml, J. Nat Comm. 15:9904-9916 (2024).
Transcriptional responses to the auxin hormone.
D. Weijers and D. Wagner, Annual Rev. Plant Biol. 67:21.1–21.36 (2016).
Structural biology of nuclear auxin action.
D.C. Dinesh, L.I.A. Calderón Villalobos and S. Abel, Trends in Plant Science, 21:302-315 (2016).
To bind or not to bind: how Auxin Response Factors select their target genes.
Rienstra J, Hernández-García J & Weijers D. J Exp. Bot. 74:6922-6932 (2023).
Lecture 3: Regulation of root initiation and polar growth by auxin.
Building a plant: cell fate specification in the early Arabidopsis embryo.
Colette A. ten Hove, Kuan-Ju Lu and Dolf Weijers. Development 142:420-430 (2015).
Self-organizing periodicity in development: organ positioning in plants.
Bhatia N and Heisler MG. Development (2018) 145:1-11, (2018).
Connecting emerging with existing vasculature above and below ground.
Blanco-Touriñán N & Hardtke CS. Curr Opin Plant Biology. 76:102461 (2023).
The interplay between extracellular and intracellular auxin signaling in plants.
Tang W, Yu Y and Xu T. J Genetic & Genomics 52:14-23 (2025).
Lecture 4: Meristems and patterning of plant growth.
Twenty years on: The inner workings of the shoot apical meristem, a developmental dynamo.
Barton, M. K. Developmental Biology, 341:95-113 (2010).
CLAVATA-WUSCHEL signalling in the shoot meristem.
Somssich, M., Byoung, J., Rüdiger, S. and Jackson, D. Development 143:3238-3248 (2016).
Patterning at the shoot apical meristem and phyllotaxis.
Bihai Shi and Teva Vernoux. Current Topics in Developmental Biology, 131:81-92, (2018).
WUSCHEL in the shoot apical meristem: old player, new tricks.
Filipa Lara Lopes, Carlos Galvan-Ampudia, and Benoit Landrein. Journal of Experimental Botany, 72:527–1535, (2021).
(Click links to download PDF files)
Background reading about Arabidopsis
The development of Arabidopsis as a model plant.
Koornneef, M., & Meinke, D. The Plant Journal : For Cell and Molecular Biology, 61:909-21 (2010).
Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism in systems biology.
Van Norman, J. M., & Benfey, P. N. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Systems Biology and Medicine, 1:372-9 (2009).
For a general discussion of self-organisation across physical and biological systems see:
Nature's patterns: a tapestry in three parts, Shapes, Flow and Branches, Phillip Ball, Oxford University Press, 2009
Introduction to patterning in plants: (Narrated slide presentations)
Recommended textbooks:
Mechanisms in Plant Development
For a well-rounded and concise view of plant development see:
Mechanisms in Plant Development, Ottoline Leyser & Stephen Day, Blackwell Science, UK, 2002.
Mechanisms in Plant Development, Ottoline Leyser & Stephen Day, Blackwell Science, UK, 2002.
Principles of Development
For an integrated overview of animal and plant development see: Principles of Development, Lewis Wolpert and Cheryll Tickle, Oxford University Press, 2011. (Chapter 7 provides an overview of the lecture content).
Further reading: Nature's Patterns: A Tapestry in Three Parts
Branches
Flow
Shapes
For a general discussion of self-organisation across physical and biological systems see: Nature's patterns: a tapestry in three parts, Shapes, Flow and Branches, Phillip Ball, Oxford University Press, 2009.
Information sheets and Glossary
Plant Cell Components. [PDF]
Glossary of Cell and Tissue Types. [PDF]
Specialised Plant Cell Types. [PDF]
Plant Cell Organelles. [PDF]
Plant Vasculature. [PDF]
Download crib sheets for keys to terminology and anatomy.
Glossary of Cell and Tissue Types. [PDF]
Specialised Plant Cell Types. [PDF]
Plant Cell Organelles. [PDF]
Plant Vasculature. [PDF]
Download crib sheets for keys to terminology and anatomy.
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Notes
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Lecture 1 slides
Lecture 2 slides
Lecture 3 slides
Lecture 4 slides