LABORATORY OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOPHYSICS
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Arabidopsis Flowers
The Arabidopsis genome was the first plant genome
to be fully sequenced. This knowledge, together
with a large body of mutational data, tools for
genetic manipulation and access to closerelatives
with varied physiological traits, greatly speeds
fundamental research in the plant sciences. -
Oilseed rape
Brassica napus is a major focus
for translational research building on work
from Arabidopsis. The leaves and stems are
commonly eaten in Southeast Asia and are often
found in asian groceries sold as tender greens.
Over 60% of its cultivation in the EU currently
goes into biodiesel production. Rapeseed demands
substantial water and N fertilization, although
newer varieties grown in Canada have been
reported to be more drought-tolerant. -
Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae,
obtain their energy through photosynthesis,
making use of much the same pathways as plants.
It is thought that modern plants arose through
a symbiotic association with cyanobacteria,
which have since evolved to form the chloroplasts
of higher plants thus providing energy to the
host. For these reasons, cyanobacteria have long
been used as a model with which to study the
process of photosynthesis. -
Water Scarcity
Water scarcity and changes in the global
environment are the most serious threats to
global food security. Many parts of the USA,
Australia and Asia as well as the mediterranean
countries have seen substantial increases in
water deficits over the past decade. Even in the
UK, the demand for irrigation water has risen
almost 10-fold in the past 20 years. Recurrence
of the Dust Bowl phenomenon that devastated the
American wheat belt is a real concern. -
Begonia
Begonias represent one of the largest and most
diverse genera among the angiosperms. Several
Begonia species exhibit complex stomatal
patterning and variable stomatal clustering,
which may be important for their physiological
adaptation to extreme wet environments such as
around waterfalls, and is a focus of research
in the Laboratory. -
Broad Bean
Vicia faba is familiar to us as the broad bean
or butterbean. It is a robust, upright annual
that grows well in cooler environments. It’s
rounded, segmented leaves are easy to dissect
by hand and have long been a favourite for
research on stomatal guard cells and their
control of gas exchange in plants. Data that
comes from studies of Vicia remains the gold
standard in the field of membrane transport
and its control. -
Jungle Night
Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius is one of a number
of giant arums found in tropical central
Americas. Its close relative, Amorphophallus
titanium, produces the largest flower in the
world, which can grow to over 2 meters in
height. Like many giant arums, A. paeoniifolius
grows from an elongated tuber. The leaf
structure, stomatal organisation and venation,
visible here, are well-adapted for highly humid
environments.
Our People
Mike Blatt
Mike Blatt
Mike Blatt studied at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he received a dual BSci with honours in Botany and Biochemistry. He obtained a PhD from Stanford University in 1981, completing his doctorate thesis on signalling and intracellular motility while working in the Plant Biology Department of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Part of his studies were completed at the University of Nürnberg while a Fullbright-Hays Graduate Fellow. Mike worked on ion transport in the fungus Neurospora while an NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University Medical School and moved to England in 1983 as a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow where he pursued interests in membrane transport and signalling in stomatal guard cells at what was then the Botany School of the University of Cambridge.
He held positions of Lecturer, Reader and Professor of Plant Cell Biology at the University of London, Wye College, and subsequently at Imperial College London. He was elected to the Regius Chair of Botany at Glasgow University in 2001 and to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2003. He is an honorary Fellow of the James Hutton Institute (UK), a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (USA), holds an Adjuct Professorship at Pennsylvania State University, and currently serves on the UK Research Councils (BBSRC) Panel of Experts. He was appointed in 2011 as Editor-in-Chief of the premier international journal Plant Physiology, a role which he assumes in full beginning in 2013. Mike’s research centres on the cell biology and biophysics of membranes, especially in relation to ion channels, their regulation and trafficking, and on stomatal guard cells and plant water relations. He continues to work at the bench along side members of his research group.
Research Group Leader and Regius Professor of Botany
Amparo Ruiz-Prado
Amparo Ruiz-Prado
I trained in Agricultural Science at the University of Valencia and at the Van Hall Institute in Groningen before moving to Scotland. I have expertise in plant tissue culture, propagation and analysis. I worked with Glasgow City Council and with a commercial nursery before joining the laboratory in 2008.
×Research Technician
Ben Zhang
Ben Zhang
Ben Zhang studied at Soochow University in China and received BSci in Bio-pharmacy. In 2011, he obtained MS degree in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University where his work focused on the role of reactive oxygen species in elicitor-induced biosynthesis of artemisinin in Artemisia annua L. He is now engaged in research towards the PhD, focusing on aspects of member traffic and ion channel regulation.
×Postgraduate Research Student
Quick Links
ALUMNI:
Dr. Christopher Grefen (BBSRC Postdoctoral Fellow, 2008-2013) moved in 2013 to Tuebingen, Germany, to take up a prestigious Emmy Noether Fellowship and start his own research group.
Dr Fiona Armstrong (Gatsby Foundation Student, 1991-5) works as a senior coordinator for the UK Research Councils.
Mr. Robert Bayne (ASPB Undergraduate Research Fellow, 2012) is pursuing a career in medical research.
Dr Matthias Bernstein (DFG Postdoctoral Fellow, 1991-2) now works in computing and systems development outside Martinsried, Germany.
Dr Jane Brearley (SERC-CASE Student, 1994-7) is a public relations and communications consultant in London servicing science and medicine.
Dr Adrian Butt (AFRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1992-5) moved to a UK government advisory post and now works as the ACRE Secretariat for DEFRA in London.
Dr Prisca Campanoni (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 2005-2007) now works in research for Philip Morris International in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Dr. Zhonghua Chen (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 2008-2011) left in 2011 to take up a permanent lectureship at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.
Dr Gian-Pietro DiSanSebastiano (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1999-2001) left to take up a lectureship in cell biology, which he currently holds at the University of Lecce, Italy.
Ms. Karen Deachon (BBSRC-funded Ph.D. student, 2004-2007) left science and moved to Australia with partner.
Dr. Cornelia Eisenach (University and Plant Bioscience Postgraduate Student, 2008-2011; BBSRC-funded Postdoctoral Associate, 2011-12) now holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Dr Charlie Garcia-Mata (Antochas Postgraduate Student, 2002-2003 and BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 2006-2008) now holds a permanent research post at the University of Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Dr Robert Gay (BBSRC Student, 1999-2004) left science to study philosophy and theology at the University of Oxford. He took up orders with the Dominicans in 2008.
Dr Danny Geelen (HFSP and EU Research Associate, 1997-9) moved to the University of Ghent, Belgium and now holds a permanent post at the VIB.
Dr. Vijay Gutla (BBSRC-funded Research Associate, 2011-2012) returned to India where he is a senior executive in a start-up biotech company.
Dr. Bernadette Gehl (Leverhulme-funded Ph.D. student, 2005-2008) took up a postdoctoral research post at Rice University (USA) and moved to a senior postdoctoral position at Oxford University in the Plant Sciences Department in 2011.
Dr Alexander Grabov (BBSRC Senior Research Associate, 1994-8) was a Senior Lecturer in Plant Physiology at Imperial College until 2011. He retired and now runs a business in Chamonix, France.
Dr David Hamilton (Gatsby Foundation Student, 1996-9) left science for a career in computing. He currently works in Edinburgh.
Dr Ulrike Homann (AFRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1994) moved to a senior research fellowship at the University of Darmstadt and now holds a senior management post at the University.
Dr. Annegret Honsbein (University Postgraduate Student, part-time, 2005-2010) is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Glasgow.
Dr Marcel A.K. Jansen (SERC Postdoctoral Associate, 1993-5) left on a Dutch Royal Society Fellowship and now holds a Lectureship in Plant Ecophysiology at the University of Cork.
Dr Ingela Johansson (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 2001-5) returned to Sweden and is working in the health services.
Dr Joanna Kargul (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1998-2000) is now a professor at the University of Warsaw.
Dr Barbara Köhler (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1999-2000) continued in research at the University of Potsdam and moved to Munich with her partner in 2009.
Dr Barbara Leyman (Gatsby Foundation Student, 1994-7 and BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1997-2000) moved to a research post at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and is now a senior consultant and IPR coordinator in the 'Plant Biotech Valley' of Ghent.
Dr Laurence Maurousset (AFRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1991-2) returned to Poitiers where she now holds a CNRS post at the University.
Dr Andrew A. Meharg FRSE (AFRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1992-3) continues to pursue his interests in plant transport and metal toxicity. He holds the Professorship of Biogeochemistry at the University of Aberdeen.
Dr Gerhard Obermeyer (DFG Postdoctoral Fellow, 1991-2) moved to Salzburg where he Habilitated and now holds a Professorship at the University of Salzburg.
Dr Manuel Paneque (Bower and BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 2002-2005) moved to Chile where he now holds a Professorship at the University of Chile.
Dr Réjane Pratelli (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 2001-4) moved to Stanford University and, in 2009, to Virginia with her partner.
Dr F. Javier Quintero (HFSP and ESFP Research Fellow, 1996-8) holds a permanent research post at the University of Seville.
Dr M. Rob. G. Roelfsema (EU Postdoctoral Associate, 1997-8) continues in research at the University of Wurzburg.
Dr Sergei Sokolovski (BBSRC and Leverhulme Postdoctoral Associate, 2000-2007) moved to research in Physics and Engineering at the University of Dundee.
Dr Jens-Uwe Sutter (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 2000-2006) continues research in physics and material sciences at Strathclyde University, Glasgow.
Mr Matthew Tyrrell (University Postgraduate Student, 2001-2005) left science and now lives in Birmingham.
Dr Paola Vergani (BBSRC Postdoctoral Associate, 1995-9) moved to the Rockefeller University to work on CFTR regulation and is now a Lecturer at University College, London.
COLLABORATORS
Virgilio (Arieh) Lew - REACH ME HERE
Julian Hibberd - REACH ME HERE
Nigel Burroughs - REACH ME HERE
John Golbeck - REACH ME HERE
Cheryl Kerfeld - REACH ME HERE
Christa Testerink - REACH ME HERE
Eduardo Blumwald - REACH ME HERE
Howard Griffiths - REACH ME HERE
Tracy Lawson - REACH ME HERE
Carlos Garcia-Mata - REACH ME HERE
Anna Moroni - REACH ME HERE
Gerhard Thiel - REACH ME HERE
Wendy Rodriguez - REACH ME HERE