UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Project Manager ( Schools ), Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme
Job Titles:
- Head of Programme, Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme
I have long been fascinated by how plants change their physiology and development to suit dynamic environments without a centralised information processing system. In particular, I've spent my scientific career investigating how a suite of mobile small molecules, the phytohormones, serve as both signal-integrators and program activators in plants.
After undergraduate research on the phytohormone auxin (with Judy Callis, UC Davis), my PhD was focused on the role of the immune hormone salicylic acid (SA) in both root development and in crosstalk between host plants and a bacterial pathogen that synthesizes SA (with Mary Wildermuth, UC Berkeley). In one project, I developed a promoter-reporter line that is highly sensitive to SA and found evidence of a transient accumulation of SA in the Arabidopsis root tip. In conjunction with my investigations of the mechanism of root growth inhibition by SA, I hypothesized that root tip localized SA carries out an unknown function in root development. In a second project centred on the question of how the pathogen acquires iron from plants, I found that the bacterium has three high-affinity iron acquisition systems. Because a mutant lacking all three remained fully pathogenic, I hypothesized that, unlike many mammalian pathosystems, the pathogen's environment is relatively iron replete. In both projects, progress on my new hypotheses stalled because I was unable directly quantify the levels of SA or iron with the necessary spatiotemporal resolution using available technologies.
Anne Crozat is responsible for administration, finance and personnel management at the Sainsbury Laboratory. She supports the Director in his effort to establish an outstanding Research Institute in Plant Development. As a trained experimental biologist she is familiar with the ethos, values, and aspirations of the scientific enterprise, and is committed to its success.
Anne has broad experience in the operation and administration of basic research. Before joining Cambridge University she was the Director of Collaborative Research at New York University School of Medicine. Anne has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Lyon (France) and a MPA from the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Services (USA).
Job Titles:
- Project Manager ( Higher Education ), Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme
Job Titles:
- Project Manager, Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme
I am interested in understanding how plant cells and organs acquire identity and how plants adapt their development in response to other organisms. I carried out my PhD studies at Duke University (USA) studying cell differentiation of the root ground tissue under the supervision of Dr. Philip Benfey. Currently, I'm a post-doctoral scientist working with Drs. Oldroyd and Jones. I'm a former EMBO Long-Term Fellow and recipient of the Marie Sklodowska Curie individual fellowship. Currently, I'm a Junior Research Fellow at Lucy Cavendish College.
I received my masters degree in Cell and Molecular Biology (2006) from the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Lyon (France) followed by a PhD in Plant Development (2011) at the University of Grenoble and the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Lyon (France). During my PhD, in the labs of Francois Parcy and Charlie Scutt, I studied the properties of LEAFY, a central regulator of flower development, which is also linked with the emergence of flowering plants.
I have been working with flowers ever since: in 2011, I joined the lab of Beverley Glover (Department of Plant Sciences, Cambridge) first as a Junior Research Fellow (Queens' College) and Marie Curie Post-doctoral Fellow, then as a Herchel Smith Fellow. My post-doctoral work aimed to understand how living organisms can produce iridescence. Iridescence is an optical trick generated by the interaction of light with minute structures organized on or just below the surface of plants and animals, thus creating visible colours that are independent of chemical pigments. In flowers, the iridescent effect is due to ordered striations (like those on a CD) of the cuticle on the petal epidermis and pollinators can use this iridescence as a cue to detect flowers. I developed Venice mallow (Hibiscus trionum) as a model species and combined biomechanical modelling and optics with modern genetic analysis, live-tissue imaging and behavioural ecology to understand how and when these nanostructures develop. This project allowed us to discover original pathways used by flowering plants to shape their surfaces and communicate with insects.
I joined the Sainsbury laboratory as a group leader in September 2017 to start investigating pattern formation in petals.
Dr François Nédélec joined SLCU in January 2019 and leads a group researching the role of the cytoskeleton in cell and developmental biology using synthetic and systems biology approaches, and computer modelling. While his research focuses on the organisation of living cells with an emphasis on the cytoskeleton, he is also interested in the organisation of multiple cells in small ensembles of cells. His long-term research objective is to understand physical principles associated with the organisation in living cells, and at a higher level for multiple cells interacting.
Job Titles:
- Research Associate
- Research Interests
The importance of the phytohormone gibberellin for plant growth and development is well recognised. Understanding where and how GA is distributed is the first step to understanding how GA signalling leads to such a diverse range of responses. I am fascinated by cellular GA dynamics in the dark grown hypocotyl and how these spatiotemporal patterns of GA arise.
I have always been interested the development of plants and have covered many aspects of plant development during my research career. Firstly I completed my PhD at Rothamsted Research under the supervision of Peter Hedden, Steve Thomas and Andy Phillips where I identified early GA regulated genes, one of which was identified as the GA receptor GID1. I followed up my research on GA by moving to another phytohormone, this time investigating ABA and dormancy in CSIRO, Canberra. After a short position back at Rothamsted Research, where I was following up lines of research founded during my PhD, I moved to the University of Edinburgh where I was involved in a large multidisciplinary project researching the effects of the circadian clock and temperature on plant development. When I moved to the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, I became involved in lab management. I was the Paszkowski Lab Manager whilst simultaneously researching epigenetic effects on plant development and stress induced transposable elements.
Job Titles:
- Chief Laboratory Technician
I am interested in how genetically identical individuals can differ from each other even within a common environment. Such inter-individual variability can be beneficial when future environmental conditions are unpredictable. This phenomenon has been studied in microbes, where variability between genetically identical cells forms the basis for some forms of antibiotic resistance. Here, specific gene regulatory networks appear to have evolved to amplify stochastic molecular fluctuations, creating differences between genetically identical cells. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie phenotypic variability in plants. Previous work suggests that elevated variability in seed germination time confers a selective advantage in unpredictable environments. I am using Arabidopsis seed germination as a study system for uncovering developmental mechanisms underlying phenotypic variability in plants.
Previous work
During my PhD, I used a combination of experimental work and computational modelling to investigate the mechanisms underlying cell polarity in plants and animals.
Key Publications
Abley K*, Formosa-Jordan P*, Tavares H, Chan EYT, Afsharinafar M, Leyser O, Locke JCW. (2021) An ABA-GA bistable switch can account for natural variation in the variability of Arabidopsis seed germination time. eLife 10:e59485.
Abley K, Locke JC, Leyser HO. 2016. Developmental mechanisms underlying variable, invariant and plastic phenotypes. Annals of botany, 117: 733-748.
Abley K, Sauret-Gueto S , Marée AFM, Coen E. Formation of Polarity Convergences underlying Shoot Outgrowths. eLife (in press).
Abley K*, De Reuille PB*, Strutt D, Bangham A, Prusinkiewicz P, Maree AF, Grieneisen VA, Coen E. 2013. An intracellular partitioning-based framework for tissue cell polarity in plants and animals. Development, 140: 2061-74.
*These authors contributed equally
Group:
Group - James Locke
Project Manager
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Associate Based at Ens - Lyon
Job Titles:
- Imaging Core Facility Manager
Job Titles:
- Project Manager ( Higher Education ), Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme
Job Titles:
- Research Group Leader / Royal Society University Research
Job Titles:
- Events and Outreach Manager
Elisabeth is responsible for managing events and outreach programmes at the Sainsbury Laboratory. She has worked for the University in a variety of roles, including project managing its 800th Anniversary celebrations and the opening of the Sainsbury Laboratory by HM the Queen. Organisations interested in collaborating on outreach projects are welcome to get in touch.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant / PhD Student
Job Titles:
- Senior Imaging Technician
Job Titles:
- Glasswashing and Media Technician
Job Titles:
- Research Group Leader / Royal Society University Research
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator ( Schools ), Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme
Job Titles:
- Horticultural Facility Manager
Job Titles:
- Horticultural Facility Cleaner
Job Titles:
- Building & Facilities Manager
Nick is responsible for financial management at the Sainsbury Laboratory. This is an exciting role as it presents an opportunity to put in place an effective finance function to support the world-class research being carried out here. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Nick was an undergraduate at Cambridge University where he studied Natural Sciences, specialising in Astrophysics in his final year. He went on to work as a business analyst at eBay before returning to academia, gaining an MSc in Theoretical Physics and an MPhil in Applied Mathematics from King's College London. Before joining the Sainsbury Laboratory, Nick worked in the assurance department of PwC Cambridge where he earned his ACA qualification.
Outside of work, Nick enjoys writing and producing his own music. He has recorded over thirty songs which can be found on-line under his singer-songwriter name ‘artgecko'.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant / PhD Student
Job Titles:
- Student / Research Assistant
Stephen is responsible for ensuring the building and its services are maintained and operate reliably. This includes the management of Security and Cleaning services along with maintenance of the building, plant and equipment. He started his career in Process Engineering before moving into Building Services and Facilities Management. Prior to joining SLCU he was M&E Services Manager at the John Innes Centre in Norwich. His hobbies include DIY, golf, riding motorcycles and playing Table Tennis in the Norwich and District League.