Natasha Bilkey

My thesis work focuses on how molecular level defects related to the plant cell cytoskeleton lead to organ-level directional growth. For this I study a suite of Arabidopsis thalianamutants that exhibit a helical growth pattern. I use nano-mechanical microscopy techniques to measure the spatial correlation of cell wall composition and mechanical properties to understand how nano-scale cell wall patterning can control helical growth at the organ level.