JIC-CAS Joint Centre
Lead Research Organisation:
John Innes Centre
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
This project will leverage the complementary strengths of world-leading plant science institutes in the UK and China to address sustainable agricultural development challenges of the developing world. In particular to:
• develop new varieties of wheat with improved yield potential;
• improve the resistance of cereal crops to drought and salt-stress;
• exploit high value medicinal bioactives from Chinese plants in African agriculture.
• develop new varieties of wheat with improved yield potential;
• improve the resistance of cereal crops to drought and salt-stress;
• exploit high value medicinal bioactives from Chinese plants in African agriculture.
Planned Impact
unavailable
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Dale Sanders (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Bevan MW
(2017)
Genomic innovation for crop improvement.
in Nature
Cui MY
(2022)
Two types of O-methyltransferase are involved in biosynthesis of anticancer methoxylated 4'-deoxyflavones in Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi.
in Plant biotechnology journal
Ewas M
(2016)
Manipulation of SlMXl for enhanced carotenoids accumulation and drought resistance in tomato
in Science Bulletin
Fang X
(2017)
Identification of a Novel (-)-5-Epieremophilene Synthase from Salvia miltiorrhiza via Transcriptome Mining.
in Frontiers in plant science
Fang Y
(2023)
SbMYB3 transcription factor promotes root-specific flavone biosynthesis in Scutellaria baicalensis.
in Horticulture research
Fu R
(2021)
Versatility in acyltransferase activity completes chicoric acid biosynthesis in purple coneflower.
in Nature communications
Fu R
(2021)
The Yin and Yang of traditional Chinese and Western medicine
in Medicinal Research Reviews
Fu R
(2018)
Next-Generation Plant Metabolic Engineering, Inspired by an Ancient Chinese Irrigation System.
in Molecular plant
Fu R
(2021)
The Yin and Yang of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
in Medicinal research reviews
Gao S
(2019)
Cytokinin-dependent regulatory module underlies the maintenance of zinc nutrition in rice.
in The New phytologist
| Description | 1. We are studying the functions of a member of the DA1 family of growth regulators that confers resistance to the oomycete pathogen Albugo. This is done in collaboration with Jonathan Jones in The Sainsbury Laboratory. We have shown that this family member, DAR4, is an integrated decoy molecule using domain swaps with other family members. Mutations that influence the growth-regulating activities of DA1, the type member of the family, trigger HR when introduced into DAR4. The guiding hypothesis is that an Albugo effector molecule(s) influences DA1 family function, and such influences are detected by DAR4 to trigger immunity. Currently we are assessed if mutations in DA1 and DAR1 influence pathogen growth and if pathogens influence plant growth. 2. The characterisation of the biosynthetic pathway for bioactive flavones in Scutellaria baicalensis continues. We have discovered two genes encoding P450 enzymes that catalyse a 6-hydroxylation and an 8-hydroxylation. This work was published in Molecular Plant in July 2017 to accompany the Science Advances paper we had published in 2016. We have characterised a family of 12 O-methyl transferases which are involved in the decoration of 4' deoxyflavones, and identified 3 which can singly or in combination account for the synthesis of wogonin from norwogonin and for the synthesis of other methylated 4'deoxyflavones which are minor metabolites in S.baicalensis roots. We have completed the genome sequence for S.baicalensis and identified a number of candidate transcription factors regulating the 4'deoxyflavone biosynthetic pathway in roots. We undertook a collecting trip for new Scutellaria species in Yunan province in May 2017 and added 3 new species to the living collection in Chenshan Botanical Garden. 3. Early in the project a paper reported the role of these transporter genes and vacuolar nitrate storage energised by the tonoplast ATPase and PPase pumps in nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in Arabidopsis and Brassica napus [Han et al. 2016 Plant Physiology 170:1684-1698]. This work demonstrated that the key hypotheses we had proposed are correct and we therefore revised the work plan to focus specifically on the role of the vacuolar H+-PPase (AVP1). Splice variants of AVP1 have been identified and these are being functionally characterized in yeast and their role in nitrogen storage and stress responses is being assessed in plants. |
| Exploitation Route | Primarily by publication in high impact factor journals. There is also interest from a biotechnology park in China (Kotler Medical Park) with money to invest in trials of bioactives from Chinese Traditional Medicine. Discussions have started with Zhi Zhang of LifeArc a UK-based company interested in investing in human trials of 4' deoxyflavones as a therapy complementary to traditional therapies. The work on the evolutionary pathway of 4' deoxyflavone production in the genus Scutellaria will form part of a closer link with Alan Paton at Kew Gardens. Plants expressing the splice variants of AVP1 have been generated and these will be important for assessing the importance of the pumps in crops. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | Pathogens influence many aspects of plant growth and development. We aim to understand the role of DA1 family members in responding to pathogens and influencing growth |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | CEPAMS Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Symposium reporting CEPAMS activities with International guest speakers as well |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | CEPAMS Symposium Shanghai 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | CEPAMS Symposium Shanghai 2016 Friday 18th March Editing Long Distance Transport and Storage to Optimize the Site of Nitrogen Assimilation in Drought and Salt-stress |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | I was keynote speaker at the Chenshan Meeting on specialised metabolism in plants |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was keynote speaker at the Chenshan Meeting on specialised metabolism in plants |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | I was keynote speaker at the Hainan first National Meeting on specialised Metabolomics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was a keynote speaker at the Hainan Meeting on metabolomics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | International Symposium on Plant Membrane Biology, Annapolis MD, USA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | International Symposium on Plant Membrane Biology, Annapolis MD, 2016 Thursday 9th June 2016 S16 Future Perspectives |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited Seminar at Bristol University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited seminar speaker at Bristol University - title 'The Plant Lytic Vacuole: Space-Filler, Garbage Bag, or Something More Interesting?' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Invited Seminar at SIPPE Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 4th November 2016 in Shanghai 15:00 Invited Seminar at SIPPE Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited seminar speaker Padua Italy (12th January 2016) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on the role of the plant lytic vacuole. Title: Lytic Vacuole: Space-Filler, Garbage Bag, or Something More Interesting? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited seminar speaker Plant Sciences Univiersity of Oxford, UK (January 28 th 2016) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited Departmental seminar speaker. Topic was the role of the lytic vacuole. Title: The Plant Lytic Vacuole: Space-Filler, Garbage Bag, or Something More Interesting? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker at SEB Plant Transport Group Meeting Glasgow 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation on the functional role of the vacuole proton pumping pyrophosphatase. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Invited speaker at York University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited speaker to York University: Plant Biology Seminar - The Plant Lytic Vacuole: Space-Filler, Garbage Bag, or Something More Interesting? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Invited speaker: Gordon Research Conference on Organellar Channels and Transporters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited speaker: Gordon Research Conference on Organellar Channels and Transporters Gordon Research Conference on Organellar Channels and Transporters |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Keynote Speech: Plants and Human Health at the Wellcome Trust China-UK Life Science Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Keynote Speech: Plants and Human Health at the Wellcome Trust China-UK Life Science Summit |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Member of the Synthetic Biology Leadership Council |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Member of the Synthetic Biology Leadership Council |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Member of the UK Science Partnership for Animal and Plant Health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Member of the UK Science Partnership for Animal and Plant Health - quarterly meetings are held |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Member of the interviewing panel for Herchel Smith Professorship of Biochemistry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Member of the interviewing panel for Herchel Smith Professorship of Biochemistry position - University of Cambridge |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists meeting - Open Address |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Opening Address at New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists meeting - Scientific meeting |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Nourishing ten billion sustainably: resilient food production in a time of climate change |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | CLIMATE CHANGE : SCIENCE AND SOLUTIONS | BRIEFING 10 The global food system accounts for around one third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by human activity. It therefore offers a major opportunity for progress towards net zero if emissions can be reduced at the same time as delivering food security and building resilience to the inevitable impacts of climate change. Research shows how solutions can be found in diet change, respectfully approached, sustainable agricultural practices and harnessing the continuing wave of innovation in food biotechnology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/climate-change-science-solutions/climate-science-so... |
| Description | Opening address at Breeders Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Opening address at Breeders Day at the John Innes Centre |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Panel Meeting of Severo Ochoa and Maria de Maeztu Committee - Madrid, Spain |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Panel Meeting of Severo Ochoa and Maria de Maeztu Committee - Madrid, Spain |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Panel discussion for the Royal Society for Hay Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Hay Festival - panel discussion for the Royal Society exploring the public attitudes to the range of applications that genetic technologies might have, and the differences in such attitudes depending on context. This might look at the difference in public opinion in areas like food and medicine, for example, or explore concepts like 'naturalness' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Plenary Speaker American Society for Pharmacognasy Lexington Kentucky USA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I presented work on the Chinese medicinal preparation, Huang Qin |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Royal Society fact finding visit to Beijing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Royal Society fact finding visit to Beijing, 22 to 26 October for Royal Society's genetic technologies programme |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Salt & Water Stress in Plants - Gordon conference presentation Hong Kong |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Report research to the scientific community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2012&program=salt |
| Description | Scientific Advisory Board Member for Max PIanck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm, Germany |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Scientific Advisory Board Meeting for Max PIanck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Speaker at MfN workshop joint with Rothamsted Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was a Speaker at the ISP MfN workshop joint with Rothamsted Research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | University of Geneva - PhD Retreat |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | University of Geneva - PhD Retreat, participation in a debate: " Technological advances - A new chance for changing public perception on GMOs". Also speaker title: 'The plant lytic vacuole: space-filler, garbage bag, or something more interesting'. A two-day retreat for PhD students in molecular plant sciences at universities in French-speaking Switzerland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | World Life Science Conference (Sustainable Agriculture Session), Beijing, 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | World Life Science Conference (Sustainable Agriculture Session), Beijing, 2016 3rd November 2016, Session 48 Sustainable Agriculture - Membrane Transporters and Nutrition - from crops to people |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | World Life Science Conference (Sustainable Agriculture Session), Beijing, 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | China National Convention Center presentation: The Plant Vacuole: Roles in Plant and Human Nutrition, and Cellular Signaling 27th - 29th October 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |