Jeremy Roberts

Contact

• workRoom A03 Plant Sciences
  Sutton Bonington Campus
  Sutton Bonington
  Leicestershire
  LE12 5RD
  UK
• work0115 951 6339
• fax0115 951 6334
• jeremy.roberts@nottingham.ac.uk

Research Summary

The main focus of my research group is to understand the mechanisms responsible for regulating cell separation in plants. This process is responsible for the shedding of plant organs, the softening… read more

Selected Publications

• YANG, T., GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.G., MAUNDERS, M.J. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2008. Ethylene and the regulation of senescence processes in transgenic Nicotiana sylvestris plants Annals of Botany. 101(2), 301-10
• BELFIELD, E.J., RUPERTI, B., ROBERTS, J.A. and MCQUEEN-MASON, S., 2005. Changes in expansin activity and gene expression during ethylene-promoted leaflet abscission in Sambucus nigra Journal of Experimental Botany. 56(413), 817-823
• ROSE, J.K., CATALA, C., GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2003. Cell wall disassembly. In: ROSE, J.K.C, ed., The Plant Cell Wall 8. Oxford: Blackwell. 264-324
• GONZÁLEZ-CARRANZA, ZINNIA H, ELLIOTT, KATHERINE A and ROBERTS, JEREMY A, 2007. Expression of polygalacturonases and evidence to support their role during cell separation processes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of experimental botany. 58(13), 3719-30

• View all publications

Current Research

The main focus of my research group is to understand the mechanisms responsible for regulating cell separation in plants. This process is responsible for the shedding of plant organs, the softening of fruit, the dehiscence of anthers and pods, and the emergence of lateral roots. In addition to having inherent scientific interest cell separation is also of interest to both agriculturalists and horticulturalists as it can affect both the quantity and quality of the yield produced by a crop. We are using a number of strategies to unravel the events that lead to floral organ abscission in the model plant Arabidopsis. By tagging separating cells with a GFP marker we have generated a transcript profile of separating cells to identify mRNAs that are specifically expressed in the abscission zone. These include: enzymes that may degrade the cell wall, pathogenesis-related proteins that protect the exposed tissues from invasion by bacteria and fungi, and polypeptides that synthesize wax and new cell wall material to seal the scar tissue. We are also studying a mutant of Arabidopsis that fails to shed its floral organs. This mutant, termed hawaiian skirt (hs), has been characterized in detail and the HS gene found to encode a novel F box protein. Current work is centred on identifying the substrate that is targeted for degradation by the HS protein.

During the course of studies on pod dehiscence in Arabidopsis we identified a gene encoding a response regulator that was up-regulated during silique development. Arabidopsis has a large family of response regulators some of which have been shown to play a role in cytokinin-induced cell signalling. The response regulator that we are studying (ARR22) is specifically expressed at the seed:funiculus junction and has been shown to be up-regulated by wounding. Current studies are focused on identifying its role and the proteins that it may interact with during seed development.

Members of the lab:

Dr Zinnia González-Carranza - postdoctoral research fellow

Manojit Basu - PhD student

Erold Naomab - PhD student

Zubaidah Ramli - PhD student

Unchalee Rompa - PhD student

Bhavisha Wala - PhD student

Li Zhang - PhD student

Xuebin Zhang - PhD student

• MANOJIT BASU, ZINNIA GONZALEZ CARRANZA, SAYED AZAM ALI, SHOUYA TANG, AHMAD SHAHID and JEREMY A. ROBERTS, 2013. The manipulation of auxin in the abscission zone cells of Arabidopsis flowers reveals that IAA signalling is a prerequisite for organ shedding. Plant Physiology.
• TRACY, S.R., BLACK, C.R., ROBERTS, J.A. and MOONEY, S.J., 2013. Exploring the interacting effect of soil texture and bulk density on root system development in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Environmental and Experimental Botany. 91, 38-47
• BLACK, V.J., STEWART, C.A., ROBERTS, J.A. and BLACK, C.R., 2012. Timing of exposure to ozone affects reproductive sensitivity and compensatory ability in Brassica campestris Environmental and Experimental Botany. 75, 225-234
• TRACY, S.R., BLACK, C.R., ROBERTS, J.A., STURROCK, C., MAIRHOFER, S., CRAIGON, J. and MOONEY, S.J., 2012. Quantifying the impact of soil compaction on root system architecture in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) by X-ray micro-computed tomography. Annals of Botany. 110(2), 511-519
• BENNETT E, ROBERTS JA and WAGSTAFF C, 2012. Manipulating Resource Allocation In Plants. Journal Of Experimental Botany. (In Press.)
• GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H., SHAHID, A.A, ZHANG, L., LIU, Y., NINSUWAN, U. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2012. A novel approach to dissect the abscission process in Arabidopsis Plant Physiology. 160(3), 1342-1356
• TRACY SR, BLACK CR, ROBERTS JA AND MOONEY SJ, 2011. Soil compaction: A review of past and present techniques for investigating effects on root growth Journal of the Science of Food & Agriculture. 91, 1528-1537
• BENNETT EJ, ROBERTS JA and WAGSTAFF C, 2011. The Role Of The Pod In Seed Development: Strategies For Manipulating Yield. The New Phytologist. 190(4), 838-53
• TRACY SR, ROBERTS JA, BLACK CR, MCNEILL A, DAVIDSON R AND MOONEY SJ, 2010. The X-factor: Visualising undisturbed root architecture in soils using X-ray computed tomography Journal of Experimental Botany. 61, 311-313
• BLACK VJ, STEWART CA, ROBERTS JA AND BLACK CR, 2010. Direct effects of ozone on reproductive development in populations of Plantago major L. differing in sensitivity. Environmental & Experimental Botany. 69, 121-128
• WAGSTAFF, C., YANG, T.J.W., STEAD, A.D., BUCHANAN-WOLLASTON, V. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2009. A molecular and structural characterization of senescing Arabidopsis siliques and comparison of transcriptional profiles with senescing petals and leaves The Plant Journal. 57(4), 690-705
• YANG, T., GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.G., MAUNDERS, M.J. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2008. Ethylene and the regulation of senescence processes in transgenic Nicotiana sylvestris plants Annals of Botany. 101(2), 301-10
• BLACK, V.J., STEWART, C.A., ROBERTS, J.A. and BLACK, C.R., 2007. Ozone affects gas exchange, growth and reproductive development in Brassica campestris (Wisconsin Fast Plants) New Phytologist. 176(1), 150-163
• BASU, S., ROBERTS, S.N., AZAM-ALI, S.N. and MAYES, S., 2007. Development of microsatellite markers for bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc.) - an underutilised African legume crop species Molecular Ecology Notes. 7(6), 1326-1328
• GONZÁLEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H., ROMPA, U., PETERS, J.L., BHATT, A.M., WAGSTAFF, C., STEAD, A.D. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2007. Hawaiian skirt: an F-box gene that regulates organ fusion and growth in arabidopsis Plant Physiology. 144(3), 1370-1382
• ROBERTS, J.A. and GONZALEZ-CARRANZA Z.H., 2007. Abscission Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Wiley.
• BASU, S., MAYES, S, DAVEY, M. R., ROBERTS, J.A., AZAM-ALI, S.N. and MITHERN, R. ., 2007. Inheritance of 'domestication' traits in bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc.) Euphytica. 157, 59-68 (In Press.)
• GONZÁLEZ-CARRANZA, ZINNIA H, ELLIOTT, KATHERINE A and ROBERTS, JEREMY A, 2007. Expression of polygalacturonases and evidence to support their role during cell separation processes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of experimental botany. 58(13), 3719-30
• ROBERTS, JA and GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z, eds., 2007. Plant Cell Separation And Adhesion Oxford : Blackwell.
• GATTOLIN, S., ALANDETE-SAEZ, M., ELLIOTT, K., GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z., NAOMAB, E., POWELL, C. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2006. Spatial and temporal expression of the response regulators ARR22 and ARR24 in Arabidopsis thaliana Journal of Experimental Botany. 57(15), 4225-4233
• ROBERTS, J.A AND GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z., ed., 2006. Plant Cell Separation and Adhesion 1st. Oxford:Blackwell.
• SARIKAMIS, G., MARQUEZ, J., MACCORMACK, R., BENNETT, R.N., ROBERTS, J. and MITHEN, R., 2006. High glucosinolate broccoli: a delivery system for sulforaphane. Molecular Breeding. 18, 219-228
• MASSAWE, F.J., MWALE, S.S., AZAM-ALI, S.N. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2005. Breeding in bambara groundnut ('Vigna subterranea' (L.) Verdc.): strategic considerations. African Journal of Biotechnology. 4(6), 463-471
• BELFIELD, E.J., RUPERTI, B., ROBERTS, J.A. and MCQUEEN-MASON, S., 2005. Changes in expansin activity and gene expression during ethylene-promoted leaflet abscission in Sambucus nigra Journal of Experimental Botany. 56(413), 817-823
• MASSAWE, F.J., ROBERTS, J.A., AZAM-ALI, S.N. and DAVEY, M.R., 2003. Genetic diversity in bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) landraces assessed by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 50(7), 737-741
• MASSAWE, F.J., AZAM-ALI, S.N. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2003. The impact of temperature on leaf appearance in bambara groundnut landraces Crop Science. 43(4), 1375-1379
• MASSAWE, F.J., AZAM-ALI, S.N. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2003. The impact of temperature on seed germination in bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) landraces Seed Science and Technology. 31(2), 259-273
• ROSE, J.K., CATALA, C., GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2003. Cell wall disassembly. In: ROSE, J.K.C, ed., The Plant Cell Wall 8. Oxford: Blackwell. 264-324
• ROBERTS J.A, HUSSAIN A and TAYLOR I.B. AND BLACK C.R., 2002. Use of mutants to study long distance signaling in response to compaction stress Journal of Experimental Botany. 53, 45-50
• MASSAWE, F.J., DICKINSON, M., ROBERTS, J.A. and AZAM-ALI, S.N., 2002. Genetic diversity in bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) landraces revealed by AFLP markers Genome. 45(6), 1175-1180
• GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H., WHITELAW, C.A., SWARUP, R. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2002. Temporal and spatial expression of a polygalacturonase during leaf and flower abscission in oilseed rape and Arabidopsis Plant Physiology. 128(2), 534-543
• ROBERTS, J.A., ELLIOTT, K.A. and GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H., 2002. Abscission, dehiscence, and other cell separation processes Annual Review of Plant Biology. 53, 131-158
• HUSSAIN, A., ROBERTS, J.A., WARSEL, Y., ESHEL, A. and KAFKAFI, V., 2002. Role of ethylene in coordinating root growth and development. In: WAISEL, Y., ESHEL, A. and KAFKAFI, U., eds., Plant roots: the hidden half 3rd ed. New York: Marcel Dekker. 449
• O'NEILL, SD and ROBERTS, JA, eds., 2002. Plant Reproduction Sheffield : Sheffield Academic Press.
• WHITELAW CA, RUPERTI B and ROBERTS JA, 2002. Differential Display: Analysis Of Gene Expression During Plant Cell Separation Processes. Molecular Biotechnology. 21(3), 251-8
• ROBERTS JA, HUSSAIN A, TAYLOR IB and BLACK CR, 2002. Use Of Mutants To Study Long-Distance Signalling In Response To Compacted Soil. Journal Of Experimental Botany. 53(366), 45-50
• HUSSAIN, A., BLACK, C.R., TAYLOR, I.B. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2000. Does an antagonistic relationship between ABA and ethylene mediate shoot growth when tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) encounter compacted soil? Plant, Cell and Environment. 23(11), 1217-1226
• BLACK V.J, BLACK C.R and ROBERTS J.A. AND STEWART C.A., 2000. Impact of ozone on the reproductive development of plants Tansley Review for New Phytologist. 147, 421-447
• JAAFAR, H.Z., ATHERTON, J.G., BLACK, C.R. and ROBERTS, J.A., 2000. Impact of water stress on reproductive development in sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). III. Inhibition of water stress-induced ethylene production by silver thiosulphate Journal of Tropical Agriculture and Food Science. 28(1), 23-29
• ROBERTS, J.A., WHITELAW, C.A., GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H. and MCMANUS, M.T., 2000. Cell separation processes in plants-models, mechanisms and manipulation Annals of Botany. 86(2), 223-236
• MARSHALL, B and ROBERTS, JA, eds., 2000. Leaf Development And Canopy Growth Sheffield : Sheffield Academic Press.
• TUCKER, GA and ROBERTS, JA, eds., 2000. Plant Hormone Protocols Totowa, N.J. : Humana Press.
• MULHOLLAND, B.J., HUSSAIN, A., BLACK, C.R., TAYLOR, I.B. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1999. Does root-sourced ABA have a role in mediating growth and stomatal responses to soil compaction in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)? Physiologia Plantarum. 107(3), 267-276
• MULHOLLAND, B.J., BLACK, C.R., TAYLOR, I.B. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1999. Influence of soil compaction on xylem sap composition in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Journal of Plant Physiology. 155(4/5), 503-508
• HUSSAIN A, BLACK C.R, ROBERTS J.A and TAYLOR I.B. AND MULHOLLAND B.J., 1999. ovel approaches for examining the effects of differential soil compaction on xylem sap ABA concentration, stomatal conductance and growth in barley (Hordeum vulgare L) Plant, Cell & Environment. 22, 1377-1388
• HUSSAIN A, BLACK C.R and TAYLOR I.B. AND ROBERTS J.A., 1999. Soil compaction: a role for ethylene in regulating leaf expansion and shoot growth in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill)? Plant Physiology. 121, 1227-1237
• MASSAWE, F.J., COLLINSON, S.T., ROBERTS, J.A. and AZAM-ALI, S.N., 1999. Effect of pre-sowing hydration on germination, emergence and early seedling growth of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc) Seed Science and Technology. 27(3), 893-906
• JENKINS, E.S., PAUL, W., CRAZE, M., WHITELAW, C.A., WEIGAND, A. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1999. Dehiscence-related expression of an Arabidopsis thaliana gene encoding a polygalacturonase in transgenic plants of Brassica napus Plant, Cell and Environment. 22(2), 159-168
• WHITELAW, C.A., PAUL, W., JENKINS, E.S., TAYLOR, V.M. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1999. An mRNA encoding a response regulator protein from Brassica napus is up-regulated during pod development Journal of Experimental Botany. 50(332), 335-341
• RUPERTI, B., WHITELAW, C.A. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1999. Gene note. Isolation and expression of an allergen-like mRNA from ethylene-treated Sambucus nigra leaflet abscission zones Journal of Experimental Botany. 50(334), 733-734
• JAAFAR, H.Z., BLACK, C.R., ATHERTON, J.G. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1998. Impact of environmental stress on the reproductive development of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) The role of ethylene in water-deficit induced flower abscission Journal of Tropical Agriculture and Food Science. 26, 265-274
• GONZALEZ-CARRANZA, Z.H., LOZOYA-GLORIA, E. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1998. Recent developments in abscission: shedding light on the shedding process Trends in Plant Science. 3(1), 10-14
• BOSAC, C., BLACK, V.J., ROBERTS, J.A. and BLACK, C.R., 1998. Impact of ozone on seed yield and quality and seedling vigour in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) Journal of Plant Physiology. 153(1/2), 127-134
• ANDERSON, M.L. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1998. Arabidopsis Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
• ANDERSON, M and ROBERTS, JA, eds., 1998. Arabidopsis Sheffield : Sheffield Academic Press.
• HASHIM, M., ROBERTS, J.A., ROSSALL, S. and DICKINSON, M.J., 1997. Leaflet abscission and phytoalexin production during the response of two faba bean breeding lines to Botorytis infection Plant Pathology. 46(6), 989-996
• COUPE, S.A., TAYLOR, J.E. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1997. Temporal and spatial expression of mRNAs encoding pathogenesis-related proteins during ethylene-promoted leaflet abscission in Sambucus nigra Plant, Cell and Environment. 20(12), 1517-1524
• ROBERTS, J.A., COUPE, S.A., WHITELAW, C.A. and TAYLOR, J.E., 1997. Spatial and temporal expression of abscission-related genes during ethylene-promoted organ shedding. In: Biology and biotechnology of the plant hormone ethylene Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 185-190
• BAILEY, P.C., LYCETT, G.W. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1996. A molecular study of dormancy-breaking and germination in seeds of Trollius ledebourii Plant Molecular Biology. 32(3), 559-564
• MULHOLLAND, B. J., BLACK, C. R., TAYLOR, I. B. and ROBERTS, J. A., 1996. Effect of soil compaction on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) growth.: II. Are increased xylem sap ABA concentrations involved in maintaining leaf expansion in compacted soils? Journal of Experimental Botany. 47(4), 551-556
• TAYLOR, J.E., WEBB, S.T., COUPE, S.A., TUCKER, G.A. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1993. Changes in polygalacturonase activity and solubility of polyuronides during ethylene-stimulated leaf abscission in Sambucus nigra Journal of Experimental Biology. 44(1), 93-98
• HARRIS,N., TAYLOR,J.E., TUCKER,G.A. and ROBERTS,J.A., 1992. The molecular biology of tomato leaf abscission Journal of Experimental Biology. 43, 62
• TAYLOR, J.E., TUCKER, G.A. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1992. Changes in gene expression accompanying leaf abscission Journal of Experimental Biology. 43, 53Abstract
• TAYLOR, J.E., TUCKER, G.A., LASSLETT, Y., SMITH, C.J., ARNOLD, C.M., WATSON, C.F., SCHUCH, W., GRIERSON, D. and ROBERTS, J.A., 1990. Polygalacturonase expression during leaf abscission of normal and transgenic tomato plants Planta. 183, 133-138
• ROBERTS, J.A., TAYLOR, J.E., LASSLETT, Y. and TUCKER, G.A., 1989. Changes in gene expression during ethylene induced leaf abscission. In: OSBORNE, D.J. and JACKSON, M.B., eds., Cell separation in plants: physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 61-68
• ROBERTS, JA and HOOLEY, R, 1988. Plant Growth Regulators Glasgow : Blackie.
• ROBERTS, JA and TUCKER, GA, eds., 1985. Ethylene And Plant Development London : Butterworths.