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Diane Robertson
Associate Professor of Biology, Senior Faculty Status
Ph.D. 1972, University of California, Berkeley; Postdoctoral Associate, 1973-1977,
Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center; Plant Physiology and Plant
Development.
Tel: 641-269-3039; FAX: 641-269-4285;
Office: Science 2608; Email: robertdc@grinnell.edu
Plants, like animals, begin life as a single cell, the fertilized egg or zygote. This single
cell undergoes growth, cell division and differentiation to produce an embryo, or
immature plant. This developmental process is called embryogenesis. Since all cells
of the embryo are produced through mitotic divisions from the zygote, all cells
should have the same genetic make-up. Yet these genetically identical cells
ultimately differentiate into different cell types, organs and tissues. The unanswered
questions of development, then, concern how gene expression is altered to produce
different cell and tissue types, at different times during development and at different
places within the organism. Somatic embryos, ones produced from somatic or body
cells of a plant rather than from a zygote, provide a useful system in which to study
the process of gene expression because they can be produced in abundance in
tissue culture.
My work involves characterizing the regulation of certain embryonic genes during
the development of somatic embryos of carrot by examining factors (i.e. hormones,
light, desiccation) that alter their expression. This, in turn, may provide information
regarding the function of these genes during embryogenesis and begin to answer
some of the long-standing questions of plant development.
Photo: Heart-stage somatic embryos of carrot (Daucus carota). Mag 369X.
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