Funding Source: National Science Foundation – Division of Integrative Organismal Systems 1354255 – The plant vascular system is of critical importance for normal plant growth, development and function, yet the mechanisms that govern development of the intricate and beautiful vascular patterns we observe in nature, are largely unknown. The vascular patterns of leaves and cotyledons provide a convenient system for addressing this complex problem. The process begins when narrow files of cells are recruited in a pattern that predicts the final venation pattern. These cells subsequently become committed to a vascular fate and differentiate into the procambium, a stem cell population that will ultimately produce the conducting tissues of the veins – xylem and phloem.  Research in the Peterman lab is exploring the cellular and molecular mechanisms required for establishment of this critical stem cell population in the flowering plant model organism, Arabidopsis thaliana. Specifically, this project aims to define the role of the Sec14-related proteins, PATELLIN-1 and -2, in membrane trafficking events critical to the formation of the procambium. The enhanced understanding of how the plant vascular systems develops that will result from this project may prove useful in designing genetic modifications of plants of agronomic importance. This is particularly relevant for plants used for biofuels since xylem, makes up the bulk of plant biomass, an increasingly valuable source of renewable energy.