Canada Research Chair in
Biomechanics of Plant Development
Lab News
January 2024
Focus issue on Plant Cell Walls in Plant Physiology
Together with colleague Antony Bacic (La Trobe University, Australia) Dr. Geitmann's edits a focus issue on plant cell walls for the journal Plant Physiology. Find the editorial here.
January 2024
New lab members
Preet Manchanda joins the lab to embark on PhD studies and Louis Youssef starts his MSc thesis project in the Geitmann Lab. Welcome Preet and Louis!
December 2023
Book on Plant Cell Walls
Dr. Geitmann's edited book 'Plant Cell Walls - Research Milestones and Conceptual Insights' is available for pre-order. It contains 25 chapters on the state of the art and history of the field, written by a total of 70 authors.
September 2023
Lamha Kumar joins the lab
Lamha Kumar joins the Geitmann lab to embark on PhD studies. Welcome to the team, Lamha!
June 2023
Poster Prize for Diksha Bhola
PhD student Diksha Bhola wins the first poster prize at the XVI Plant Cell Wall Meeting in Málaga, Spain. Excellent presentation of her work on the cell wall biochemistry in the leaf mesophyll.
June 2023
Reunion with former lab member at ICAR
Dr. Geitmann catches up with former postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yuki Hamamura, now at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (Golm, Germany), during the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) in Chiba, Japan.
June 2023
Cailun Tanney receives her MSc certificate
Cailun Tanney, co-supervised by Drs Geitmann and Smith, celebrates her official graduation at the spring Convocation ceremony.
June 2023
Dr. Karuna Kapoor officially graduates
Karuna Kapoor who had defended her dissertation earlier in the year, receives her official graduation certificate at the McGill Convocation ceremony at Macdonald Campus.
May 2023
Stomates climbing city walls
A fluorescence micrograph showing the leaf epidermis with stomates and pavement cells by Amir Jafari Bidhendi is projected on a downtown high rise near Place des Arts.
February 2023
Mimosa is Current Biology's front page beauty
David Sleboda's article on the mimosa leaf folding mechanism makes it on the cover of Current Biology. In his article, David describes the structural features that steer the folding mechanism. A dispatch by Dorota Kwiatkowska adds context to our article.
January 2023
A new doctor in the house!
Karuna Kapoor successfully defends her thesis on the role of callose in pollen tube growth. Congratulations, Dr. Kapoor!
December 2022
Holiday Potluck
Everybody shared their favorite celebratory dishes at the holiday potluck.
October 2022
BIRS-CMO Workshop in Oaxaca
Delayed by two years due to the pandemic, Dr. Geitmann finally gets to organize the long-planned Workshop on Multiscale Modeling of Plant Growth, Pattern Formation and Actuation in Oaxaca, Mexico. Despite the challenges of the hybrid format a success!
August 2022
Lab BBQ
In annual tradition the Geitmann Lab organizes a summer BBQ - this time joint with the Charron lab with whom we share temporary lab space during renovations.
June 2022
A summer of conferences
Geitmann Lab members attend multiple conferences this summer - finally they are in person again! Here, Karuna and Maddie rock their posters at the 26th International Conference on Sexual Plant Reproduction in Prague, Czech Republic.
June 2022
Presidency of the IASPRR
Dr. Geitmann completes her term as 8th President of the International Association of Sexual Plant Reproduction Research (IASPRR) at the end of the General Assembly of members of the Association in Prague.
May 2022
Joint lab retreat
The Geitmann Lab goes for a joint lab retreat with the members of the labs of Daniel Kierzkowski and Anne-Lise Routier-Kierzkowska at the Station de biologie des Laurentides de l'Université de Montréal. A rainy but fun science day.
March 2022
Sugaring off
The lab couldn't help but to get its annual sugar shock at the sugar shack.
February 2022
Dr. Aravind Jayasankar joins the lab
Dr. Aravind Jayasankar, expert in Material Science and Mechanical Engineering, joins the lab as postdoctoral fellow.
November 2021
Invisible secrets: How microscopy revolutionized the life sciences
Invited by the the Microscopical Society of Canada, Dr. Geitmann gives a public lecture on the history of light-based imaging - from the invention of the first lens to Nobel-prize winning technologies that allow us to see deep into the cell. Online event on November 4, 6pm EDT.
Image: Amir J Bidhendi
October 2021
Towards a net-zero carbon economy
Dr Geitmann gives a plenary presentation on agri-environmental indicators, measuring sustainability in the agri-food sector, and the role of research and innovation at the annual conference of the Agri-Food Innovation Council.
September 2021
New members in the lab
We are excited to welcome our new lab members! Hiba Kamel starts her PhD, Sarah Seay embarks on an Honor's project and Maddie Stokes joins us for an MSc project.
July 2021
Microfluidics has come a long way
Microfluidics and MEMS technologies have proven to be phenomenal tools for the investigation of small plant organs and single plant cells. In this review we summarize the technical advances and ingenious applications realized in recent years.
June 2021
Plant Cell Wall Biology Conference
Karuna and Diksha give great presentations on their thesis projects during the 7th International Plant Cell Wall Biology Conference, organized by a Japanese committee, and bringing together an international scientific community pandemic style - online.
June 2021
Mary E. Spencer Award Lecture
Dr. Geitmann delivers the Award Lecture for her 2020 Mary E. Spencer Award at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists. The lecture is entitled 'On Growth and Form - From D'Arcy Thompson to Micromechanics of Plant Morphogenesis' and highlights the giants on whose shoulders modern plant morphogenesis research stands.
June 2021
The Geitmann Lab celebrates its 20th anniversary!
Dr. Geitmann started her lab on June 3, 2001, at the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale of Université de Montréal. Following her appointment as Dean at McGill University in 2015, the Geitmann Lab moved to the Department of Plant Science at McGill's Macdonald Campus in 2016. Check the photo album of lab alumni.
June 2021
Amir Bidhendi wins 3rd place at image contest
A beautiful confocal micrograph showing the microtubule cytoskeleton in leaf epidermal cells submitted by Amir J. Bidhendi to the image competiton of the Microscopical Society of Canada is recognized with the 3rd prize. Congratulations Amir!
May 2021
Review on the role of the cytoskeleton in cell wall assembly
March 2021
Mechanical model of hair growth
Just to change things up, we looked at a mammalian system for once. The human hair follicle is a miniature organ with complex tissue architecture. Shafayet modeled the mechanical aspects of the hair growth process performed by this organ. The paper is available here and the author version is posted here.
September 2020
Cailun Tanney new MSc student
Cailun Tanney joins the Geitmann Lab. Cailun is co-supervised by Prof. Don Smith. Welcome Cailun!
August 2020
Collaboration with Dr. David Sleboda
Dr. David Sleboda, postdoctoral fellow with Professor Reza Sharif Naeini (Department of Physiology) joins the Geitmann Lab as visiting researcher to conduct a collaborative project on plant organ actuation.
August 2020
Dr. Geitmann receives the CSPB/SCBV Mary E. Spencer Award
Dr. Geitmann receives the Mary E. Spencer Award by the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists in recognition of outstanding research in the field of plant biology in Canada and active public service engagement in the plant biology community.
June 2020
Protocols for pollen tube research
Dr. Geitmann's book compiling methods and protocols for pollen tube research is published. A total of 55 authors contributed to 22 chapters covering a wide spectrum of techniques for the investigation of the male gametophyte in the flowering plants.
June 2020
Dr. Geitmann receives the MSC Frances W. Doane Award
Dr. Geitmann receives the Frances W. Doane Award dedicated 'for valuable service and contributions that an individual made to the Microscopical Society of Canada'.
June 2020
Amir Bidhendi's presentation is recognized
Amir Bidhendi receives the Public choice award in the biological sciences for his flash talk at the annual (online) meeting of the Microscopical Society of Canada.
June 2020
Karuna Kapoor wins presentation award
Karuna Kapoor wins the Award for presentation with the best microscopic images in the biological sciences at the annual (online) meeting of the Microscopical Society of Canada.
May 2020
Tensile tissue testing
Testing plant tissue by applying tensile forces reveals their biomechanical properties. In this paper, Amir Bidhendi describes the engineering details of his custom made tensile tester.
May 2020
How to label cellulose and pectin in plant tissues
April 2020
Durotropism
Pollen tubes have the ability to detect and respond to differences in the mechanical properties in their growth matrix. In some species, the tubes prefer stiffened medium, consistent with their typical in situ growth environment. Ronny Reimann, co-first author, started this project while visiting the Geitmann lab.
March 2020
Covid-19
The Geitmann Lab moves to the home office and lab meetings are held online due to the closure of university campuses.
March 2020
'Alles ist Blatt'
'Alles is Blatt' (All is leaf) said the German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. For a surprising range of plant organs that is actually true, but it takes some imagination (and shape deformation) to figure out how un-leaf-like structures are created - deadly carnivorous traps for example. All about this in this Cell Preview.
January 2020
Plant biomechanics special issue in Botany
September 2019
Gloria Lau starts Honors project
Gloria Lau, Honors student with Paul Wiseman, Departments of Chemistry and Physics, starts a research project under co-supervision of Dr. Geitmann.
September 2019
Cover feature in Plant Physiology
Another of Amir's amazing images makes it on the cover of a journal. For more covers see here.
September 2019
Diksha Bhola joins the lab
Diksha Bhola joins the lab as PhD student. Welcome Diksha!
September 2019
Pectin chemistry and cellulose crystallinity matter for pavement cell morphogenesis
This article by Bara Altartouri illustrates the roles of the different cell wall components in tissue morphogenesis
August 2019
A new Dr in the house!
Bara successfully defends his PhD thesis. Congratulations, Dr. Altartouri!
August 2019
Bara Altartouri featured by Plantae
Bara Altartouri is featured by Plantae in their series of first author profiles.
July 2019
Plant cell morphogenesis viewed through the biomechanical lens
In this paper, Amir J. Bidhendi's used finite element modelling to simulate the morphogenesis of pavement cells. These beautiful, jigsaw puzzle like cells form the leaf epidermis and their differentiation involves microtubules, cellulose microfibrils and pectin. Amir's image is featured on the journal cover.
July 2019
Special issue on Plant Biomechanics
Dr. Geitmann serves as guest editor for a special issue on plant biomechanics in the Journal of Experimental Botany. 16 articles exemplifying the state-of-the-art of the field are introduced by an editorial. The cover of the issue features an image by Amir J. Bidhendi.
July 2019
Primary plant cell wall mechanics - tested
Amir J. Bidhendi's review on the caveats and challenges of different methods to measure primary plant cell mechanics comes our in Journal of Experimental Botany. Of note: The article contains a detailed glossary of biomechanics terms, and a table with all the published mechanical values we were able to find.
July 2019
Karuna Kapoor represents the Geitmann Lab at Plant Canada
While Dr. Geitmann misses the first CSPB meeting in more than a decade to lecture at the CISM Biomechanics Workshop in Udine and give a presentation at the XV Cell Wall Meeting in Cambridge, Karuna Kapoor represents the Geitmann Lab at the Plant Canada Meeting in Guelph presenting her work on callose in pollen tubes.
July 2019
Modeling morphogenesis
Modeling biological processes is challenging and requires careful consideration of input parameters and assumptions. In Bidhendi and Geitmann (2019) Developmental Cell we show that modeling the morphogenesis of leaf epidermal cells needs to be done by considering the complete 3D geometry of the cell to account for relevant forces driving cell growth.
June 2019
Amir J. Bidhendi's official graduation
Amir J Bidhendi receives his official PhD diploma at the graduation ceremony at Université de Montréal
June 2019
Christine Cameron receives her degree
Christine Cameron, Master's student in the Geitmann Lab, receives her degree at the Macdonald Campus graduation ceremony. Congratulations!
May 2019
Poster session & conference primer
Conference season is in full swing and you are a first time attendant? Or you are looking for inspiration to design your scientific poster? Check out Dr. Geitmann's primer for grad students.
February 2019
Membrane trafficking in pollen tubes
Membrane trafficking in plant cells is complex and in pollen tubes it is choreographed in sophisticated manner. We investigated some of the players involved in endocytosis in Kaneda et al. (2019) Plant Cell Physiology
February 2019
Hana Rakusová's farewell
The team celebrates the completion of Dr. Hana Rakusová's postdoctoral fellowship.
November 2018
Hongbo Li's farewell
Hongbo Li returns home to China, not without a bottle of Canadian maple syrup in his luggage. Have a safe trip home, Hongbo!
October 2018
Dr. Geitmann appointed to chair the ASPB International Committee
Dr. Geitmann is appointed as the Chair of the International Committee of the American Society of Plant Biologists.
October 2018
Geitmann Lab Party
Current and former members of the Geitmann Lab meet again.
September 2018
Gökcan Sahin joins the lab
Gökcan Sahin is new MSc student in the lab. Welcome!
August 2018
Amir J. Bidhendi is new Dr.!
Amir J. Bidhendi successfully defends his PhD thesis before the jury including Professors Tamara Western (McGill), David Morse (Université de Montréal), Phil Lintilhac (University of Vermont) and Frédérick Gosselin (École Polytechnique de Montreal, not pictured). Congratulations Dr. Bidhendi!
August 2018
PlantBioMech 2018
The Geitmann Lab organizes the 9th International Plant Biomechanics Conference in Montreal on August 9-14, 2018
June 2018
Plant Biomechanics. The Book.
This new book on Plant Biomechanics is the first in many years to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of the discipline. The 18 chapters cover wood and tree mechanics, developmental biology, cell wall ultrastructural features related to mechanical behavior, and the hydraulics underlying fluid transport in plants.
June 2018
Pollen tubes exert forces
We measured the force exerted by growing pollen tubes and determined how they respond when they touch a physical obstacle. Find the preprint here.
June 2018
Dr. Geitmann new President of IASPRR
Dr. Geitmann is elected President of the International Association of Sexual Plant Reproduction Research (IASPRR) at the 25th meeting of the Association in Gifu, Japan.
May 2018
Abscission and the middle lamella
Abscission requires the dissolution of the middle layer in a precisely defined separation plane. This article summarizes how herbaceous plant tissues ensure the vulnerable separation site is protected.
April 2018
Sugaring off
April is the time for sugar shack - the ideal opportunity to get the fingers sticky and the metabolism hyperglycemic. Fortunately, there was enough snow around for the dessert after the dessert, 'la tire'!
March 2018
Pollen tubes are the coolest
Pollen tube are the coolest - they grow as if in a race (they are!), do so through mazes (does the pistil play hard to get?), follow guidance cues (plant males ask for directions!) and they can keep a rhythm (mating is a dance after all). The pollen tube's cool features are summarized in our recent review article. (And yes, this picture from Wikipedia is actually ours.)
January 2018
Research funding for Phenotyping Platform
The Geitmann Lab and colleagues from the Department of Plant Science at McGill University and Sherbrooke University receive funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation for a large plant phenotyping platform. Link.
November 2017
Early holiday lunch
No snow yet, but the Geitmann lab members celebrate the coming holiday season at Tadja Hall
November 2017
Souad Mroue joins the lab
Suoad Mroue joins the lab as visiting PhD students. Great to have you at Mac, Souad!
November 2017
Hongbo Li joins the lab
Hongbo Li, an engineering expert in plant biomechanics, joins the lab as visiting scholar. Welcome to Montreal, Hongbo!
September 2017
Karuna Kapoor joins the lab
Karuna Kapoor joins the lab as PhD student. Welcome Karuna!
June 2017
Dr. Geitmann is named ASPB Fellow
At the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists 'Plant Biology 2017' Dr. Geitmann is named ASPB Fellow.
June 2017
Lab Retreat at Tadja Hall
The Geitmann Lab holds a retreat together with the group of Reza Sharif-Naeini and guests Anna Moroni and Gerhard Thiel
May 2017
Plant Physiology paper on plant cell division comes out
A beautiful paper by Chloë van Oostende, former postdoctoral fellow in the Geitmann Lab, in collaboration with Paul W. Wiseman (Department of Chemistry) is published in Plant Physiology.
March 2017
Mahmood Ghanbari joins the lab
Mahmoud Ghanbari joins the Geitmann Lab as visiting scholar. Welcome, Mahmoud!
March 2017
Philip Ruijten joins the lab
Philip Ruijten, PhD student at Eindhoven University (The Netherlands), joins the lab for an internship to study fungal growth in solid media
February 2017
Lab Move
The Geitmann Lab moves to the Raymond Building on the Macdonald Campus, home to the Department of Plant Science.
December 2016
CRC Chair
Dr. Geitmann is awarded a Canada Research Chair in Biomechanics of Plant Development
September 2016
Christine Cameron joins the lab
Christine Cameron joins the Geitmann Lab as Master's student. Welcome Christine!
September 2015
Dr. Geitmann new Dean at Mac
Dr. Geitmann is nominated Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Associate Vice-Principal (Macdonald Campus) of McGill University