Research summary
Each cell within a plant is surrounded by a cell wall—a complex outer layer that protects and supports the cell. This layer can be processed into renewable products like paper, cotton, wood, bioplastics, and biofuels. But modifying cell walls while the plant is alive (to improve the resulting materials) often triggers “cell wall signalling,” a process whereby plants sense changes and respond by limiting growth, making these modifications impractical.
As Canada Research Chair in Plant Cell Biology, Dr. Heather McFarlane aims to discover how plants sense and respond to cell wall changes. She and her research team are using proteomics, genetics, and evolutionary analysis to identify key components in cell wall signalling. By studying these components with techniques like live cell imaging and protein-interaction assays, they hope to enable modifications that do not hinder growth, allowing plants to become viable sources of renewable bioenergy, sustainable agriculture and green materials.