We are interested in understanding the origin and diversification of the carpel
The carpel is the female reproductive organ of flowering plants. It encloses the ovules, protecting them, and facilitating their fertilization. After fertilization, the ovules give rise to the seeds and the carpel produces the fruit. By protecting the seed and helping disperse it, the innovative structure of the carpel played a key role in the diversification of flowering plants which account for nearly 90% of all plant species. Nearly all plant-based foods are either derived from a flowering plant or are a direct product of the carpel. Despite its importance, explaining the origin of the flowering plant carpel remains one of the enduring challenges for plant scientists.
Understanding how the closed carpel evolved from the open structures of ancestral seed plants and how its closed structure is made is key to explaining both the success of flowering plants and the origin of fruit shape diversity.
At the PlantDEvo lab we will use a multidisciplinary research program to tackle the evolution of the carpel from a developmental perspective. We want to explain how the closed structure of the carpel is made, how it evolved from an open leaf-like structure, and how the ancestral carpel evolved into the different carpel shapes seen across flowering plants.