In vitro plant regeneration holds great potential in the agriculture and horticulture, especially in crop improvement and hybrid breeding. Moreover, it is also applicable to studies of plant developmental regulatory mechanisms. For in vitro embryogenesis, the most important step is to re-establish the totipotency and further develop into an embryo. Embryo cell fate can be established from different tissue culture. Among the different pathways, we focus on microspore embryogenesis, where haploid embryos arise from stress-induced microspore culture.

Microspores are pollen-precursor cells in the anther, which are developmentally programmed to form gametes. However, under certain stress conditions, the isolated microspores can be re-programmed to undergo appropriate cell divisions and develop into an haploid embryo, even in the absence of fertilisation.

We use rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) as a model species to study microspore embryogenesis, where heat shock causes the microspores to change its developmental fate from pollen development to either developmental arrest, cell death, or embryogenesis (Corral-Martinez et al., 2020). Our lab focuses on 

Team GENESIS consists of experts in plant regeneration and hormone signalling (Geelen lab) and 4 labs from Plant Systems Biology: Advanced Live Cell Imaging (Vandamme lab), Programmed Cell Death (Nowack lab), Oxidative Stress Signaling (Van Breusegem lab), and Inter-organelle Signalling (De Clercq lab). Together, we provide a concerted molecular approach to understand the mechanism in a cellular level behind microspore embryogenesis. The outcome of the project will lead to a solid molecular framework of androgenesis and novel, effective strategies for boosting the efficiency of stress-induced microspore embryogenesis and its wider application in hybrid breeding.