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Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9328-3051
AccessType
Open Access Dissertation
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Plant Biology
Year Degree Awarded
2022
Month Degree Awarded
September
First Advisor
Tobias I Baskin
Subject Categories
Plant Biology
Abstract
Temperature can impact growth in plants though both physical and biological means. Plants physically respond to temperature by scaling their enzyme reaction rate to temperature, such as seen in the redox reactions of photosynthesis. Biologically, a plant can respond to temperature more specifically, such as adjusting its flowering time. Recently, the Baskin lab discovered that cell division in the root of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is temperature acclimated (Yang et al., 2017). Between the non-extreme temperatures of 15 and 25˚C cell division and growth zone length are constant. While the rate of cell division increases with temperature, the number of dividing cells decreases, which balances the total production of cells. The length of the growth zone is also temperature acclimated and does not change between moderate temperatures. The core of my dissertation has been working to understand the mechanism, as well as the significance, in the root of temperature acclimated cell division and growth zone length. I have done this by conducting on various genotypes of A. thaliana to determine what genes could be involved in temperature pathways in the root. I also looked at the growth zone length of various genotypes of A. thaliana to determine if this process was dependent on the temperature acclimated cell production rate. I have also been working on looking at these responses in another cell type-the epidermal cells. Finally, I looked at oxygen uptake of four genotypes to determine if temperature acclimated cell production was some type of cost-saving mechanism.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/31050060
Recommended Citation
Zimmermann, Maura J., "Root Growth Dynamics in Response to Moderate Temperatures" (2022). Doctoral Dissertations. 2694.
https://doi.org/10.7275/31050060
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/2694