Stuart Casson
University of Sheffield
I am a developmental biologist with a major interest in how environmental signals influence plant development. Often, this utilises stomata as a model and here, I am particular interest in how light, carbon dioxide and temperature influence stomatal development on the leaf surface. My current work focuses on how the interplay between photoreceptors and the photosynthetic machinery modulates plant-environmental responses.
Title of presentation
Photoreceptor and photosynthetic regulation of stomatal development
Abstract
Our work is focused on understanding the signalling mechanisms that mediate plant developmental changes in response to environmental signals. Stomata, the microscopic pores on the leaf surface, are an excellent model for examining how environmental signals modulate plant development. Factors such as light quantity and quality as well as atmospheric carbon dioxide have a major impact on stomatal development. Using a combination of genetic and molecular tools our work has demonstrated that plant photoreceptors, significantly phyB, play a critical role in regulating stomatal development in response to environmental signals. However, photoreceptor signalling is insufficient to explain some light responses and here, photosynthetic regulation plays a major role. This pathway targets key stomatal regulators and in combination with photoreceptor control, allows for fine tuning of stomatal development under different conditions.
My Sessions
Photoreceptor and photosynthetic regulation of stomatal development
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Presentation