Profile

Career

2001 -	Professor	Department of Biology, University of York
1994 - 2002	Royal Society University Research Fellow	Department of Biology, University of York
1993 - 1994	Post-doctoral Research Assistant	Pennsylvania State University
1993	PhD (Plant Physiology)	Pennsylvania State University
1987	BSc Biology (CNAA) Honours (1st Class)	Portsmouth Polytechnic School of Biological Sciences

Research

Overview

Research encompasses various aspects of plant cell wall biology. The cell wall plays a key role in the control of plant growth and morphogenesis by regulating the rates of cell expansion through changes in extensibility. Plant cell wall extensibility is under dynamic control and the molecular mechanisms underlying extension are a major research interest. Expansins are key proteins that regulate cell wall extensibility and we study these proteins at the level of biochemistry and molecular genetics. The cell wall is a complex fibre composite material composed of a range of different polysaccharides. We study the contribution of different matrix polysaccharides to cell wall extensibility and elasticity, as well as the genes and enzymes involved in their biosynthesis.

Plant biomass is one of the greatest reserves of fixed carbon on the planet, is viewed as a potential replacement for fossil fuels, and is largely composed of cell walls. We are using our knowledge of cell walls to advance the development of second generation liquid biofuels from plant biomass in three distinct areas. Firstly, we are coordinating a large international project, which aims to optimise plant cell walls for biofuel applications by making them more readily converted into fermentable sugars for alcohol production. Secondly, we have initiated a major programme for the discovery of novel enzymes for converting plant biomass into fermentable sugars. Finally, we are investigating the production of liquid biofuels from plant biomass from municipal waste.

Discoveries

We discovered that the key role of arabinans in plant cell wall elasticity

Current projects

• Improving plant cell walls for use as a renewable industrial feedstock (Funding body: EU)
• New tools for the realization of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass (Funding body: BBSRC)
• Cell wall lignin programme: Manipulating lignin to improve biofuel conversion of plant biomass. (Funding body: BBSRC)

Research group(s)

Status	Name	Projects
Post doctoral fellow	Dr Leonardo Gomez	Improving plant cell walls for use as a renewable industrial feedstock
Post doctoral fellow	Dr Marcelo Kern	New tools for the realization of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass
Post doctoral fellow	Dr Katrin Besser	tools for the realization of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass
Research Student	Victor Qan (year away student)
Research Student	William Ebboral
Technician	Dr Clare Steele-King	An essential role for arabinan breakdown during Arabidopsis seedling establishment
Technician	Caragh Whitehed	Manipulating lignin to improve biofuel conversion of plant biomass
Technician	Luisa Elias	New tools for the realization of cost-effective liquid biofuels from plant biomass

Available PhD research projects

Improving plant biomass for the production of sustainable biofuels (for 2012 - 13)

Lignocellulosic plant biomass is one of the greatest untapped reserves on the planet and is mostly composed of cell walls, which are comprised largely of polysaccharides that can be broken down to provide sugars for fermentation  to produce sustainable  renewable biofuels. .However, the complex structure of cell walls, consisting of a network of cellulose microfibrils and matrix polysaccharides encrusted by lignin, makes them resistant to digestion and this represents the major technical bottleneck for the production of cost-competitive and sustainable biofuels.

Much of the plant biomass that will be available for biofuels production will be derived from grasses, in the form of straw from cereals or from dedicated biomass crops such as miscanthus. In order to identify genes that can be manipulated to improve cell wall digestibility we have been screening for point mutations that render straw from the model grass Brachypodium distachyon more digestible. Initial screening has identified more than 30 lines with significantly higher digestibility than wild type. In the project the student will undertake work to map the underlying gene mutations responsible for the improved digestibility in a number of these lines, and carry out detailed analysis of the changes in cell wall composition and structure responsible for the phenotype.  This work will further our understanding of cell wall structure and function and identify ways to improve biomass crops for biorefinery applications.

Publications

Selected publications

Jones L, Milne JL and McQueen-Mason S (2003) Cell Wall Arabinan is Essential for Guard Cell Function. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 11783-1178

Gomez L, Steele-King C and McQueen-Mason S (2008) Tansley review: Sustainable liquid biofuels from biomass: the writing's on the walls New Phytol. 178: 73-485

External activities

Memberships

• Member of the Defra Sustainable Materials LINK Programme Advisory Committee
• Member of the BBSRC Integrated Biorefinery Technologies Initiative Research and Technology Club Steering Group
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Cross Council Energy Programme

Editorial duties

• Editorial board: Journal of Plant