Title:  "A multiscale model of Arabidopsis development: from molecules to plant architecture"

Speaker:     Prof. Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz
                   University of Calgary
                   Canada

Place: Room 249 of the CLC (Collaborative Research Centre) in the Sir James Footes building, Morning tea on level 3 in the general Tea Room
Time: 10:30am 8th of September, Morning Tea Provided.

Abstract:
A fascinating aim of current research is the understanding of the developmental processes through which multicellular organisms acquire their form. Mathematical models and computer simulations are an emerging methodology assisting in these studies. The talk will describe the work in progress aimed at creating an integrative model of Arabidopsis thaliana. The model takes into account the spiral phyllotaxis, apical dominance, flowering sequences, and architecture of wild type and selected mutant Arabidopsis plants. By combining computational models and simulations operating at different scales, we have begun to synthesize developmental processes from the level of molecules to the level of the whole plant architecture. This makes it possible to appreciate the link between the relatively simple mechanisms operating at the levels of plant modules and tissues and the resulting complex plant structures.  These results have been obtained in collaboration with Enrico Coen, Cris Kuhlemeier, and Ottoline Leyser.

Biography
Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Calgary. He has been conducting research in computer graphics since the late 1970s. In 1985, he originated a method for simulating and visualizing plants based on L-systems, a mathematical model of development. He is a co-author of two books, "Lindenmayer Systems, Fractals and Plants" and "The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants", as well as numerous research papers. In 1997, he received the ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award for his work on the modeling and visualization of biological structures. (See attached document for the virtual laboratory software developed by Prof. Prusinkiewicz group )

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