From the 1st of September to the end of February 2022 Sebastiano Nigris, a researcher of the University of Padova (IT), worked at the New York Botanical Garden In the research group of Barbara Ambrose. The main topic of this secondment is the study of fruit-like structures of Gymnosperms.
During the secondment Sebastiano Nigris has had the possibility to learn the technique “in situ hybridization” to spatially evaluate the expression level of target genes.
In the context of the RISE project, the technique has been applied in the study of the development of female cones of Taxus baccata, a gymnosperm species that present a fruit like structure called aril. The seed of Taxus is surrounded by a fleshy, red, non-poisoning aril that improve seed dispersal by frugivory. The development of this structure is closely linked to the development of the ovule, as it develops ex novo from the ovule funiculus. The molecular mechanisms of ovule development in Taxus baccata are almost completely unclear, from other gymnosperms we know that there are some conserved mechanisms that have been observed also in angiosperm model plants.
These mechanisms involve different classes of transcription factors, that act together to determine the tissues of the ovule. The secondment allowed to obtain good scientific results and new skills have been gained by the secondee, and are ready to be spent in Padova.
