Howard Griffiths (scientist)

Last updated

Howard Griffiths
Born1953 (age 69–70) [1]
Scientific career
Fields Plant Physiological Ecology
Institutions
Website www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/research/howardgriffiths

Howard Griffiths is a physiological ecologist. [3] He is Professor of Plant Ecology in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, [4] and a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. [3] [5] He formerly worked for the University of Dundee in the Department of Biological Sciences. [6] He applies molecular biology techniques and physiology to investigate the regulation of photosynthesis and plant water-use efficiency.

Contents

Research

Griffiths' specializations include:

Griffiths has a particular interest in introducing the dynamics of plant processes without the need for time-lapse photography. His lectures demonstrate how the spatial segregation of photosystem 1 and photosystem 2 creates a highly dynamic system with lateral mobility and migration of damaged photosynthetic reaction centers through thylakoid membranes.[ citation needed ]

He studies the reaction mechanism of RuBisCO and how plants have evolved. [3] His primary focus being the types of "carbon dioxide concentrating mechanisms" (CCMs) which enhance the operating efficiency of RuBisCO and thereby CO₂-fixation. [3] [5] CCMs of interest include crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), the biochemical C4 pathway, and the biophysical CCM found within algae, cyanobacteria and hornworts. [3] [5]

He uses stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen to compare how different types of plants have evolved their own methods of photosynthesis. [3] [5] Study of these isotopes can also analyse the water use of plants and insects. [3] [5]

He collaborated on an international project investigating the possibility of introducing the algal CCM into terrestrial plants called the Combining Algal and Plant Photosynthesis project (CAPP). [10] [11] [12] [13] In 2016, they achieved successful results [14] and they now hope to implement this technique to increase the rate of photosynthesis in plants and hence increase crop yields. [14]

His goal in his work is not only to discover new molecular and ecological insights but then use those insights to sustain plant diversity and combat climate change. [3]

As part of his work, Griffiths has been a Visiting Research Fellow to the Australian National University in 2006 and 2008. [5] He is part of peer review for the National Environmental Research Council. [5] [15] He has also conducted many field work expeditions to countries including Trinidad, Venezuela, and Panama, as part of his research. [3] [5]

As of 2021, his projects ^ focus on:

Publications

Griffiths has a blog documenting his and his students' research in physiological ecology. [16]

He is the author, co-author or editor of several textbooks and monographs, [1] including The Carbon Balance of Forest Biomes with Paul Gordon Jarvis. [17]

According to Google Scholar [18] and Scopus, [19] his most highly cited peer-reviewed publications were in The Journal of Experimental Botany , [20] [21] Oecologia , [22] New Phytologist, [23] and Functional Plant Biology . [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photosynthesis</span> Biological process to convert light into chemical energy

Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars and starches, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name photosynthesis, from the Greek phōs, "light", and synthesis, "putting together". Most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere, and supplies most of the energy necessary for life on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evergreen</span> Plant that has leaves in all seasons

In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyrenoid</span> Organelle found within the chloroplasts of algae and hornworts

Pyrenoids are sub-cellular micro-compartments found in chloroplasts of many algae, and in a single group of land plants, the hornworts. Pyrenoids are associated with the operation of a carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM). Their main function is to act as centres of carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation, by generating and maintaining a CO2 rich environment around the photosynthetic enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). Pyrenoids therefore seem to have a role analogous to that of carboxysomes in cyanobacteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crassulacean acid metabolism</span> Metabolic process

Crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM photosynthesis, is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions that allows a plant to photosynthesize during the day, but only exchange gases at night. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but they open at night to collect carbon dioxide and allow it to diffuse into the mesophyll cells. The CO2 is stored as four-carbon malic acid in vacuoles at night, and then in the daytime, the malate is transported to chloroplasts where it is converted back to CO2, which is then used during photosynthesis. The pre-collected CO2 is concentrated around the enzyme RuBisCO, increasing photosynthetic efficiency. This mechanism of acid metabolism was first discovered in plants of the family Crassulaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photorespiration</span>

Photorespiration (also known as the oxidative photosynthetic carbon cycle or C2 cycle) refers to a process in plant metabolism where the enzyme RuBisCO oxygenates RuBP, wasting some of the energy produced by photosynthesis. The desired reaction is the addition of carbon dioxide to RuBP (carboxylation), a key step in the Calvin–Benson cycle, but approximately 25% of reactions by RuBisCO instead add oxygen to RuBP (oxygenation), creating a product that cannot be used within the Calvin–Benson cycle. This process lowers the efficiency of photosynthesis, potentially lowering photosynthetic output by 25% in C3 plants. Photorespiration involves a complex network of enzyme reactions that exchange metabolites between chloroplasts, leaf peroxisomes and mitochondria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate</span> Chemical compound

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) is an organic substance that is involved in photosynthesis, notably as the principal CO2 acceptor in plants. It is a colourless anion, a double phosphate ester of the ketopentose called ribulose. Salts of RuBP can be isolated, but its crucial biological function happens in solution. RuBP occurs not only in plants but in all domains of life, including Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.

C<sub>3</sub> carbon fixation Most common pathway in photosynthesis

C3 carbon fixation is the most common of three metabolic pathways for carbon fixation in photosynthesis, along with C4 and CAM. This process converts carbon dioxide and ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP, a 5-carbon sugar) into two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate through the following reaction:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge</span>

The Department of Plant Sciences is a department of the University of Cambridge that conducts research and teaching in plant sciences. It was established in 1904, although the university has had a professor of botany since 1724.

An isotopic signature is a ratio of non-radiogenic 'stable isotopes', stable radiogenic isotopes, or unstable radioactive isotopes of particular elements in an investigated material. The ratios of isotopes in a sample material are measured by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry against an isotopic reference material. This process is called isotope analysis.

The Suess effect, also referred to as the 13C Suess effect, is a change in the ratio of the atmospheric concentrations of heavy isotopes of carbon (13C and 14C) by the admixture of large amounts of fossil-fuel derived CO2, which is depleted in 13CO2 and contains no 14CO2. It is named for the Austrian chemist Hans Suess, who noted the influence of this effect on the accuracy of radiocarbon dating. More recently, the Suess effect has been used in studies of climate change. The term originally referred only to dilution of atmospheric 14CO2. The concept was later extended to dilution of 13CO2 and to other reservoirs of carbon such as the oceans and soils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transpiration</span> Process of water moving through a plant parts

Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves, stems and flowers. Water is necessary for plants but only a small amount of water taken up by the roots is used for growth and metabolism. The remaining 97–99.5% is lost by transpiration and guttation. Leaf surfaces are dotted with pores called stomata, and in most plants they are more numerous on the undersides of the foliage. The stomata are bordered by guard cells and their stomatal accessory cells that open and close the pore. Transpiration occurs through the stomatal apertures, and can be thought of as a necessary "cost" associated with the opening of the stomata to allow the diffusion of carbon dioxide gas from the air for photosynthesis. Transpiration also cools plants, changes osmotic pressure of cells, and enables mass flow of mineral nutrients and water from roots to shoots. Two major factors influence the rate of water flow from the soil to the roots: the hydraulic conductivity of the soil and the magnitude of the pressure gradient through the soil. Both of these factors influence the rate of bulk flow of water moving from the roots to the stomatal pores in the leaves via the xylem.

Julian Michael Hibberd is a Professor of Photosynthesis at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autotroph</span> Organism type

An autotroph or primary producer is an organism that produces complex organic compounds using carbon from simple substances such as carbon dioxide, generally using energy from light (photosynthesis) or inorganic chemical reactions (chemosynthesis). They convert an abiotic source of energy into energy stored in organic compounds, which can be used by other organisms. Autotrophs do not need a living source of carbon or energy and are the producers in a food chain, such as plants on land or algae in water. Autotrophs can reduce carbon dioxide to make organic compounds for biosynthesis and as stored chemical fuel. Most autotrophs use water as the reducing agent, but some can use other hydrogen compounds such as hydrogen sulfide.

The evolution of photosynthesis refers to the origin and subsequent evolution of photosynthesis, the process by which light energy is used to assemble sugars from carbon dioxide and a hydrogen and electron source such as water. The process of photosynthesis was discovered by Jan Ingenhousz, a Dutch-born British physician and scientist, first publishing about it in 1779.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Gordon Jarvis</span>

Paul Gordon Jarvis was a leading ecologist and Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Edinburgh from 1975 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fractionation of carbon isotopes in oxygenic photosynthesis</span>

Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide to carbohydrates via several metabolic pathways that provide energy to an organism and preferentially react with certain stable isotopes of carbon. The selective enrichment of one stable isotope over another creates distinct isotopic fractionations that can be measured and correlated among oxygenic phototrophs. The degree of carbon isotope fractionation is influenced by several factors, including the metabolism, anatomy, growth rate, and environmental conditions of the organism. Understanding these variations in carbon fractionation across species is useful for biogeochemical studies, including the reconstruction of paleoecology, plant evolution, and the characterization of food chains.

Ernesto A. Medina is a plant ecologist whose specialty is plant physiology when adapting to the changing environment. He is an elected international member of the National Academy of Sciences, and is adjunct professor in the department of Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation (CREST-CATEC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nina Buchmann</span> Plant ecologist

Nina Buchmann is a German ecologist known for her research on the physiology of plants and the impact of plants on biogeochemical cycling. She is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Lovelock</span> Australian marine biologist and ecologist

Catherine Ellen Lovelock is an Australian marine ecologist, whose research focuses on coastal ecosystems. She is a professor in the School of Biological Science at the University of Queensland and 2020 Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellow.

Thomas George Allan Green is a lichenologist, terrestrial ecologist and botanist. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. His work particularly studies how lichens respond to extreme low temperatures and dryness, and especially how this affects photosynthesis. He has studied the ecology of Antarctica.

References

  1. 1 2 Howard Griffiths at Library of Congress Authorities
  2. ↑ Raven, John; Beardall, John; Griffiths, Howard (1982). "Inorganic C-sources for Lemanea, Cladophora and Ranunculus in a fast-flowing stream: Measurements of gas exchange and of carbon isotope ratio and their ecological implications". Oecologia. 53 (1): 68–78. Bibcode:1982Oecol..53...68R. doi:10.1007/BF00377138. ISSN   0029-8549. PMID   28310605. S2CID   220458.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Professor Howard Griffiths". Clare College. Cambridge University. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Physiological Ecology". Department of Plant Sciences. Cambridge University. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Professor Howard Griffiths". Department of Plant Sciences. University of Cambridge. 3 June 2013. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Raven, John; Beardall, John; Griffiths, Howard (1 April 1982). "Inorganic C-sources for Lemanea, Cladophora and Ranunculus in a fast-flowing stream: Measurements of gas exchange and of carbon isotope ratio and their ecological implications". Oecologia. 53 (1): 68–78. doi:10.1007/BF00377138. ISSN   1432-1939. PMID   28310605. S2CID   220458. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cambridge Centre for Climate Science". climatescience.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "Research theme: food security". cam.ac.uk/research/themes/food-security. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "Introducing the Cambridge Conservation Initiative". conservation.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "CAPP - Combining Algal and Plant Photosynthesis". cambridgecapp.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "The Research Dept". CAPP. 20 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "About us". CAPP. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Overview". CAPP: Combining Plant and Algal Photosynthesis. UKRI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Outcomes". CAPP: Combining Plant and Algal Photosynthesis. UKRI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  15. ↑ "NERC PEER REVIEW COLLEGE MEMBERS". NERC. December 2019. p. 15. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "physiological ecology". Ecology in a Gingko-covered building. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  17. ↑ Griffith, Howard; Jarvis, Paul, eds. (2005). The carbon balance of forest biomes. New York: Taylor & Francis. ISBN   0-203-50134-9. OCLC   61853824. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  18. ↑ Howard Griffiths publications indexed by Google Scholar OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  19. ↑ Howard Griffiths's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  20. ↑ Dodd, A. N. (2002). "Crassulacean acid metabolism: plastic, fantastic". Journal of Experimental Botany. 53 (369): 569–580. doi: 10.1093/jexbot/53.369.569 . ISSN   1460-2431. PMID   11886877.
  21. ↑ Price, A. H. (2002). "Linking drought-resistance mechanisms to drought avoidance in upland rice using a QTL approach: progress and new opportunities to integrate stomatal and mesophyll responses". Journal of Experimental Botany. 53 (371): 989–1004. doi: 10.1093/jexbot/53.371.989 . ISSN   1460-2431. PMID   11971911.
  22. ↑ Seibt, Ulli; Rajabi, Abazar; Griffiths, Howard; Berry, Joseph A. (2008). "Carbon isotopes and water use efficiency: sense and sensitivity". Oecologia. 155 (3): 441–454. Bibcode:2008Oecol.155..441S. doi:10.1007/s00442-007-0932-7. ISSN   0029-8549. PMID   18224341. S2CID   451126.
  23. ↑ Adams, Patricia; Nelson, Don E.; Yamada, Shigehiro; Chmara, Wendy; Jensen, Richard G.; Bohnert, Hans J.; Griffiths, Howard (1998). "Growth and development of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (Aizoaceae)". New Phytologist. 138 (2): 171–190. doi:10.1046/j.1469-8137.1998.00111.x. ISSN   0028-646X. PMID   33863085.
  24. ↑ Cernusak, Lucas A.; Tcherkez, Guillaume; Keitel, Claudia; Cornwell, William K.; Santiago, Louis S.; Knohl, Alexander; Barbour, Margaret M.; Williams, David G.; Reich, Peter B.; Ellsworth, David S.; Dawson, Todd E.; Griffiths, Howard G.; Farquhar, Graham D.; Wright, Ian J. (2009). "Why are non-photosynthetic tissues generally 13C enriched compared with leaves in C3 plants? Review and synthesis of current hypotheses". Functional Plant Biology. 36 (3): 199–213. doi:10.1071/FP08216. hdl: 11299/177648 . ISSN   1445-4408. PMID   32688639.
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