Secondment from University of Valencia (ES) to New York Botanical Garden (USA)

The main goal of the research performed by Anna Solè of University of Valencia is to understand when a critical genetic circuit that regulates vascular cell differentiation in tracheophytes originated, and how it evolved in this lineage. The module, studied in angiosperms, is formed by a C3HDZ transcription factor that promotes the expression of ACL5, which in turn ensures the correct translation of the SACL transcriptional regulators. To answer the question of when did they start regulating vascular development Anna visited the laboratory of Dr. Barbara Ambrose in the New York Botanic Garden. There, she performed in situ hybridization in G. biloba (a gymnosperm), C. richardii (a fern) and S. kraussiana (a lycophyte) and confirmed the co-expression of these elements in early vascular tissues. This is consistent with the hypothesis that this genetic circuit was active in mediating vascular differentiation in the last common ancestor of extant tracheophytes.