Lab Introduction

Xylem is the most abundant tissue on Earth. Wood is xylem, and wood formation is a complex developmental process involving cell proliferation of vascular cambium followed by the differentiation of secondary xylem cells. Growth and development in multicellular organisms are regulated at many levels by transacting molecules following well-structured regulatory hierarchies. Understanding the regulatory hierarchy of wood formation will offer novel and more precise genetic approaches to improve the productivity of forest trees. 

Secondary xylem in woody angiosperms consists of three types of cells, fiber, vessel and ray. In vascular cambium, one layer of stem cells divides and differentiates to give rise to all the three wood cell types. The three types of cells have unique functions. Fiber cells provide support, vessels transport water, and ray cells store nutrients and extractives. Through single cell sequencing and laser capture microdissection, we aim to investigate xylem development through the dissection of individual cell-type development to study the detailed mechanisms.