Plant Cell Signalling

Professor Julie Gray

+44 (0) 114 2224407
j.e.gray@sheffield.ac.uk

Career History

Stomata are microscopic pores on the surface of leaves that open and close to allow uptake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis whilst minimising water loss. Stomata are important because their behaviour affects crop productivity, and global carbon and water cycles. My laboratory is interested in how stomatal aperture and stomatal development are controlled by the plant, and how environmental change will affect them. We use molecular genetic techniques to study stomatal signalling pathways and to understand how plants adapt to differing environmental conditions. Recently we have begun to study the evolution of stomatal signalling pathways which are believed to have been important for the greening of the earth over 400 million years ago.

Left: Arabidopsis thaliana, the model plant used for genetic studies. Centre: A pair of guard cells regulate each stomatal pore - chloroplasts fluoresce yellow. Right: Thermal imaging is used to assess stomatal responses. Plants with more open stomata are depicted as pink/blue. They lose more water and are cooler.

Selected Publications

Doheny-Adams T, Hunt L, Franks PJ, Beerling DJ & Gray JE. (2012) Genetic manipulation of stomatal density influences stomatal size, plant growth and tolerance to restricted water supply across a growth CO₂ gradient. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (Lond) B. 367: 547-555.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22232766
Penfield S, Clements S, Bailey K, Leegood R, Gray JE & Graham IA. (2012) Expression analysis of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 identifies a role for malate metabolism in stomatal closure. Plant Journal 69, 679–688.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22007864
Chater C, Kamisugi Y, Movahedi M, Fleming A, Cuming AC, Gray JE & Beerling DJ. (2011) Regulatory mechanism controlling stomatal behaviour conserved across 400 million years of land plant evolution. Current Biology 21:1025-1029.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21658944
Ruszala EM, Beerling DJ, Franks PJ, Chater C, Casson SA, Gray JE & Hetherington AM. (2011) Land plants acquired active stomatal control early in their evolutionary history. Current Biology 21:1030-1035.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21658945
Hunt L Bailey KJ & Gray JE. (2010) The signalling peptide EPFL9 is a positive regulator of stomatal development. New Phytologist, 186: 609-614.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20149115
Hunt L & Gray JE. (2009) The signaling peptide EPF2 controls asymmetric cell divisions during stomatal development. Current Biology, 19:864-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19398336
Gray JE, Casson S & Hunt L. (2008) Intercellular peptide signals regulate plant meristematic cell fate decisions. Science Signaling 1:53.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19066398
Casson S & Gray JE. (2008) Influence of environmental factors on stomatal development. New Phytologist 178, 9-23.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18266617
Coupe SA, Palmer BJ, Lake JA, Overy SA, Oxborough K, Woodward FI, Gray JE & Quick WP. (2006) Systemic signalling of environmental cues in Arabidopsis. Journal of Experimental Botany, 57:329-341.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16330523
Hunt L, Mills LN, Pical C, Leckie CP, Aitken FL, Kopka J, Mueller-Roeber B, McAinsh MR, Hetherington AM & Gray JE. (2003) Phospholipase C is required for the control of stomatal aperture by ABA. Plant Journal 34, 47-55.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12662308
Gray, JE, Holroyd, GH, van der Lee, FM, Sijmons, PC, Woodward, FI, Schuch, W, & Hetherington, AM. (2000) The HIC signalling pathway links CO2 perception to stomatal development. Nature 408, 713-716.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11130071