Dr Katie Jeal

My research investigates how conserved developmental programs are modified to generate morphological diversity in plants, with a particular focus on the evolution and development of awns, the bristle-like extensions of grass lemmas that are hypothesised to be homologous to the leaf blade. Awns have evolved repeatedly across the grass family, and show great diversity in form and function contributing to photosynthesis, seed dispersal, and seed burial. This makes them an excellent system for studying how conserved genetic pathways are modified to produce novel morphologies.

I joined the Bartlett group in January 2025, where my work investigates the developmental and genetic mechanisms underlying morphological diversity in grasses, focusing on the evolution and development of the awn. The grass lemma and awn are hypothesised to share developmental origins with the leaf sheath and blade, respectively, and I am testing whether the genetic programs controlling awn formation represent modifications of conserved leaf developmental pathways. Using barley, blackgrass, and Brachypodium as comparative models, I combine developmental imaging, transcriptomics, and genetic approaches to identify the gene regulatory networks that specify lemma and awn identity. By linking molecular regulation to morphological outcomes, my research aims to reveal how evolutionary modifications of conserved developmental programs generate diversity in grass lemmas and awns.

Background

My PhD supervised by Jill Harrison focused on the evolution and function of receptor-like kinases in the CLAVATA-WUSCHEL signalling pathway, which regulates meristem size and inflorescence development. Using phylogenetic analyses, I identified CLAVATA homologues in wheat and related Triticeae species, informing the generation of Taclv1 and Tacrn CRISPR/Cas9 mutants. This work demonstrated that pathway disruption alters inflorescence size and developmental timing, and established my expertise in cereal genetics, transformation, and developmental analysis.