Dr. Bergmann's research group uses Arabidopsis stomatal development as a model for understanding how asymmetric cell division, cell-cell communication and long distance communication work together to establish cell fate and tissue patterning.

Functioning organisms possess an abundant array of tissues, each composed of distinct cell types with distinct cell morphologies. How is this grand diversity of fates and forms generated? Cells in the Arabidopsis stomatal lineage distill many of the key features of development: they must be chosen from initially equivalent cells, they undergo asymmetric and self-renewing divisions, they communicate among themselves and they must respond to the environment. The Bergmann lab takes a multidisciplinary approach - from cell biology to genomics to ecophysiology - that leverages the intrinsic strengths of this biological system to create a conceptual and technical framework for the study of cell fate, stem-cell self-renewal and cell polarity.