De novo development of polarity and the generation of stem cell niches

The multicellular bodies of plants develop from single cells; the multicellular diploid phase of the plant life cycle develops from a polarised zygote, and the multicellular haploid phase develops from a spore without polarity. Each of these cell types divide to form masses of cells – enclosed embryos and free-living sporelings respectively. These cell masses form meristems, generative centres from which the body of the plant develops. In bryophytes, meristems develop in both diploid multicellular embryos and haploid sporelings. Our laboratory investigates mechanisms that transform the non-polar spore into a polarised cell in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha.