College of Life Sciences

Division of Plant Sciences

The Division of Plant Sciences is located at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee.

Head of Division: Professor John W. S. Brown Deputy Head of Division: Professor Claire Halpin Divisional Secretary: Morven Pearson Divisional Lab Manager: Sandie Gray

Plants form the basis of life on Earth providing food to sustain human and animal life, as well as being exploited for natural products and medicine. They are essential to the atmosphere in fixing carbon and releasing oxygen. The importance of plant sciences to the world’s ecosystems is highlighted by the current concerns over climate change and fuel and food security.

The Division of Plant Sciences was established in 2007 in order to create a cohesive faculty focused on the study of plant life. Curiosity-led basic research, designed to explore and explain the mechanisms by which plants grow and develop in response to their environment, is combined with the relevant translation of our scientific activity into crop improvement, biofuel development, and the assessment of biodiversity.

With full access to the world-leading molecular research resources of the College of Life Sciences, our labs are based at Scottish Crop Research Institute, 5km from campus. This unique partnership gives us access to state-of-the-art plant growth facilities and collaboration with a wider community of plant scientists.

This new and vibrant centre for plant science is a natural choice for the establishment and maintenance of international-quality research careers. We aim to grow through the recruitment of new PIs attracted by the combination of quality of science and quality of life that Dundee offers. We are interested in receiving applications from high quality researchers in plant sciences who are interested in relocating to Dundee. In addition, we welcome interest from individuals who have or would apply for a research fellowship to set up their laboratory in an international plant sciences centre. Please contact John Brown (j.w.s.brown@dundee.ac.uk) or Morven Pearson (m.pearson@dundee.ac.uk).

The Division comprises the following research groups:

1. Paul Birch: How plant pathogens trigger, suppress or manipulate host defences
2. John Brown: RNA processing and expression
3. Andrew Flavell: Structure, evolution and biodiversity of crop plant genomes
4. Claire Halpin: Manipulation of plant metabolism using reverse genetics
5. Steve Hubbard: The dynamics of plant-aphid-microbe associations
6. Gordon Simpson: Regulated gene expression controlling flowering (Group Website)
7. Edgar Huitema: Mechanisms of virulence acquisition during Phytophthora-host associations (Group Website)

Affiliated Members:

Carol MacKintosh (MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit): The role of 14-3-3 proteins in cellular responses to growth factors and nutrients 

John Raven (Emeritus Member of Plant Sciences Division): Interactions among resources in the growth of phytoplankton 

Janet Sprent (Emeritus Member of Plant Sciences Division): Nitrogen fixation, especially in nodulated legumes (Personal Website)

Hamlyn Jones (Associate member of Plant Sciences Division): Plant ecophysiology: adaptation to environmental stress (Group website)
 

Links:

• SCRI
• Plant Science Scotland
• The University Botanic Garden, a major public attraction in the city.
• European Plant Science Organisation