Seamus Curran-French

Symmetry establishment is a vital process for all multicellular organisms as it underpins function and ultimately fitness.

In plants, symmetry formation is primarily controlled by the phytohormone auxin alongside a set of molecular components which control auxin synthesis and distribution. However, little is known about how these components are regulated.

Seamus works on understanding how these molecules are modulated at the basic level to achieve symmetry formation during development using the plant model organism Arabidopsis thaliana.

It is hoped by elucidating the molecular pathway connecting hormone distribution and fundamental biochemical processes it may be possible to build a model of a conserved core machinery which underlies symmetry formation throughout evolution.