(Confocal)

This image taken with a confocal microscope shows the tip of a thalecress (Arabidopsis thaliana) stem bearing young flower buds expressing fluorescent reporters for a hormone and a gene. Red marks the cells where plant hormone auxin accumulate, and green the cells that activate the DORNROSCHEN-LIKE gene. Together, auxin and DORNROSCHEN-LIKE control where the different floral organs (sepals, petals, stamens and pistil) form and how the flower is shaped. Cell walls, stained with propidium iodide, are seen in grey. I try to understand how flowers form from a few cells at the tip of the stem, and how different plant genes and hormones control this developmental process.