Mateusz Majda: Plant Physiology First Author

Mateusz Majda, co-first author of “A future in 3D: analysing morphology in all dimensions”

Current Position: Postdoctoral Scientist, John Innes Centre, UK

Education: PhD in Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

Non-scientific Interests: photography, traveling and reading

Brief bio: I am interested in the mechanical bases of plant growth and architecture. During my PhD studies, I worked on the role of cell walls in cell shape acquisition using epidermal pavement cells as a model. These studies led to the observation that the lobing of pavement cells is associated with heterogeneous properties of cell walls. In my postdoc, I combine morphogenesis, quantitative and computational biology, and biomechanics. I use the confocal image analysis software MorphoGraphX to track cell growth rates and cell wall elastic expansion. I am also developing custom biophysical tools for measuring plant stiffness, such as the micro-extensometer and Cellular Force Microscope. In one of my recent works, we question how the cell geometry and cellular patterning influence tissue stiffness.