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Research Summary
Current research programmes, recent publications etc are available on the Portal for the laboratory of Professor Holdsworth: HERE
Keywords: The N-end rule pathway of ubiquitin-mediated targeted proteolysis, oxygen and nitric oxide (NO) sensing, plant-environment interactions, abiotic and biotic stress responses, biochemical genetics.
My research work in recent years has focused on discovering the role that the N-end rule pathway of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis plays in regulating plant growth and development, and response to the environment. This has included my discovery that the pathway acts as the molecular mechanism for oxygen sensing in flowering plants (Nature 2011), that it acts as a key nitric oxide sensing mechanism in plants (Molecular Cell, 2014), controls response to multiple abiotic stresses (Current Biology 2017) biotic stresses (New Phytologist 2018), photomorphogenesis (Current Biology 2015), influences the stability of key regulatory proteins (Nature Communications 2018), and that manipulation of the pathway leads to water-logging tolerant barley (Plant Biotechnology Journal 2016).
Current areas of interest include:
- Characterisation of the plant N-end rule pathway of targeted proteolysis.
- Understanding the role of targeted proteolysis in sensing plant-environment interactions.
- Gasotransmitters and gas sensing.
- Providing molecular resources and conceptual frameworks that plant breeders and growers can use.
The Virtual Seed Web Resource vseed.nottingham.ac.uk:
This online resource provides queryable interfaces for Gene Networks associated with seed development, dormancy and germination. Users can zoom into networks, search and highlight genes of interest and download images of network representations.
Selected Publications
VICENTE J, MENDIONDO GM, MOVAHEDI M, PEIRATS-LLOBET M, JUAN YT, SHEN YY, DAMBIRE C, SMART K, RODRIGUEZ PL, CHARNG YY, GRAY JE and HOLDSWORTH MJ, 2017. The Cys-Arg/N-End Rule Pathway Is a General Sensor of Abiotic Stress in Flowering Plants. Current Biology. 27, 3183-3190 ABBAS M, BERCKHAN S, ROONEY DJ, GIBBS DJ, VICENTE CONDE J, SOUSA CORREIA C, BASSEL GW, MARÍN-DE LA ROSA N, LEÓN J, ALABADÍ D, BLÁZQUEZ MA and HOLDSWORTH MJ, 2015. Oxygen sensing coordinates photomorphogenesis to facilitate seedling survival. Current Biology. 25(11), 1483-8 MENDIONDO GM, GIBBS DJ, SZURMAN-ZUBRZYCKA M, KORN A, MARQUEZ J, SZAREJKO I, MALUSZYNSKI M, KING J, AXCELL B, SMART K, CORBINEAU F and HOLDSWORTH MJ, 2016. Enhanced waterlogging tolerance in barley by manipulation of expression of the N-end rule pathway E3 ligase PROTEOLYSIS6. Plant Biotechnology Journal. 40(1), 40-50 GIBBS DJ, MD ISA N, MOVAHEDI M, LOZANO-JUSTE J, MENDIONDO GM, BERCKHAN S, MARÍN-DE LA ROSA N, VICENTE CONDE J, SOUSA CORREIA C, PEARCE SP, BASSEL GW, HAMALI B, TALLOJI P, TOMÉ DFA, COEGO A, BEYNON J, ALABADÍ D, BACHMAIR A, LEÓN J, GRAY JE, THEODOULOU FL and HOLDSWORTH MJ, 2014. Nitric Oxide Sensing in Plants Is Mediated by Proteolytic Control of Group VII ERF Transcription Factors. Molecular Cell. 53(3), 369-379