Features
Planting Research Roots
New research group nurtures big plans for studying small-scale nature of plants
BY ANDREW VOWLES
Call it a research hothouse for nurturing studies in plant biology at Guelph. A new plant biology research group on campus is expected to foster research collaborations, strengthen ties among plant biologists in the College of Biological Science and underline U of G's expertise in the molecular and cellular aspects of plant biology.
The new group brings together botanists, geneticists and microbiologists and accounts for more than one-quarter of the faculty in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB). The entire research group, including graduate students, research associates and post-docs, numbers about 75 people.
Most of the 14 faculty will occupy four labs in the final wing of the science complex, scheduled to open this summer. (One of the group's members is already located in the first phase of the complex, opened in late 2004.)
They will use the greenhouses and closed-environment chambers nearby on the top floor of Phase 1 of the science complex, as well as scientific instruments located downstairs in the Advanced Analysis Centre.
Few universities can match Guelph's concentration of people and facilities for studying the molecular and cellular biology of plants, says MCB chair Prof. Chris Whitfield.
“Nothing helps research like critical mass,” he says. “Good things generally come from the chance to talk in the hallway with others who have common research interests.”
Earlier, these researchers occupied separate quarters within former departments of CBS and in the Ontario Agricultural College.
“The idea is to encourage more integration and interaction between people and to make good use of new resources in the science complex,” says Whitfield.
Referring to the 2004 reorganization of departments in CBS, he says: “A primary objective in forming MCB was to bring together individuals with shared research interests that are linked by a common level of investigation. The tools involved in molecular and cellular biology cross biological systems, and MCB is trying to capitalize on this by forming new research theme groups.”
Defining the plant biology group will help in forging research links and funding applications with other departments and colleges on campus and externally, says CBS dean Mike Emes, a group member. For instance, he will strengthen and pursue collaborations in plant starch studies with MCB professor Ian Tetlow — a lab partner in the new complex — and with other faculty in CBS and OAC. That research, which spans molecular biology, breeding and farm trials, foods and consumer health and nutrition, may provide clues about how to alter foods to improve human health, including tackling obesity, Type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer.
Prof. Joe Colasanti, MCB, uses his expertise in plant genetics to study crop-yield improvement and plant metabolism with several colleagues. He expects to work with MCB professor Steven Rothstein and Prof. Manish Raizada, Plant Agriculture, on optimizing plants' use of resources such as fertilizer. They're also exploring ideas for using plants as biofuels.
“We want to make Guelph a key player in plant biology,” says Colasanti.
Elsewhere, MCB professors Annette Nassuth and Stefan Graether plan to use nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the Advanced Analysis Centre to study the dehydrin protein that enables grapevines to survive drought and freezing.
Plant biology group members have already applied jointly for research funding to buy a new growth chamber intended to study low-temperature effects on plant growth.
The group's faculty members will talk about their research as part of a new seminar series being launched this winter. It kicks off Jan. 22 with Tetlow and Emes discussing plant metabolism at 3:30 p.m. in Room 337 of the Axelrod Building.
“The idea is to expand this series and invite people from other departments and other universities in the future,” says Nassuth. For more information, contact her at Ext. 58787.