Shelley Hepworth

Biography

Shelley Hepworth Associate Professor Degrees: B.Sc. (Waterloo), Ph.D. (Toronto)

Research Interest

The Hepworth Lab is a nationally and internationally integrated research unit at Carleton University. Agriculture is a major sector of the Canadian economy. Population growth coupled with the impacts of climate change has created the demand for a second “green revolution” to improve and stabilize crop productivity. Plant architecture is a major determinant of crop yield. The long-term objective of our research program is to understand how genes control shape and form. This information is valuable in genomics-assisted breeding which seeks to use knowledge of genes and genomes to customize agronomic traits in crop plants. Plants shape and form relies on the activity of self-maintaining groups of stem cells called meristems. Meristems provide a continuous supply of daughter cells for incorporation of new leaves, flowers, and shoots throughout the life cycle. Our work focuses on the role of organ boundaries located on the meristem periphery. Boundaries are specialized domains of restricted growth that separate the meristem from new organs as they emerge. These domains preserve growth by forming a barrier that allows stem cells to continue propagating in the center of the meristem and organs to continue developing at the periphery. Boundaries are also the source of axillary meristems that give rise to branches and flowers on the inflorescence and the site of abscission zones that control the detachment and dispersal of fruits, leaves, flowers, and seeds. Despite the importance of boundaries in controlling plant architecture, known about genetic networks that control their function during the reproductive phase. Our work is at the forefront of such discoveries.