Adrienne Roeder

Talk Title: Stochasticity and robustness in the morphogenesis of Arabidopsis sepals

Adrienne Roeder is an Associate Professor at the the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, and the Section of Plant Biology, School of Integrative Plant Science.

She studies the role that cell growth and division play in the diversity of cell size in the Arabidopsis sepal. Arabidopsis is a flowering plant and its sepal is the outermost green leaf-like floral organ that surrounds and protects the developing bud. A major part of Roeder’s research also involves imaging and computer modeling. “At some fundamental level, we don’t understand how cells grow and divide to make a plant organ. We usually think of a cell first adopting an identity and then altering its division pattern based on that identity. What I am really excited about is that my recent research implies that the reverse is also true. The way a cell divides can affect its identity. ”

Roeder has a history of laying the foundation for other researchers. During her graduate study, she identified a gene in Arabidopsis that resulted in the particular shape of the seedpod. Since then, different research groups have identified the same gene in rice and in canola. Before coming to Ithaca, Roeder worked with the Expanding Horizons program, which helps introduce inner-city middle school girls to science through hands-on demonstrations. For example, Roeder showed the girls how to isolate DNA from cauliflower using a blender. After isolating the DNA, she explained to the girls DNA’s role in all living organisms and how to translate DNA into amino acid sequences. Her lesson conclude with an explanation as to how changes in the DNA sequence led to an inactivation of a protein, which produced large heads of the cauliflower. Another goal of the program was to show the girls examples of women leadership in science. “With no background in science, it’s really difficult to know what it is like,” Roeder says. She is continuing to teach young girls about science here in New York state.