Plants exhibit a remarkable range of architectural designs. A stroll through the local park reveals the incredible diversity of body plans that have evolved in the plant kingdom: from the weeds underfoot to the trees that tower overhead. Even within a given species, plants exhibit a phenomenal plasticity in architectural design. Siblings may have different numbers of shoots, roots or flowers, with entirely different orientations and locations in the plant body.

Despite the incredible diversity in plant forms, the molecular mechanisms that control plant architecture are highly conserved across diverse genera. It is thought that the timing and localization of these mechanisms, in response to environmental and developmental cues, determine the overall structure of the plant body. The Campbell lab tests hypotheses aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms that control plant architecture, with a focus on the perception and allocation of carbon.

Dr. Campbell's group employs a multidisciplinary approach incorporating the tools of comparative functional genomics, genetics, cell biology and biochemistry to address questions relating to the molecular basis of development and the evolution of diverse plant architectures. Much of the group's work focuses on the transcriptional control of plant development; consequently, microarray and bioinformatics experiments feature prominently in the most recent work in the group.