Current position
Senior Fellow
Research interests
Genes and proteins that control and catalyse cell division.
I am particularly interested in cyclin dependent protein kinases
(CDKs), which drive progress through the cell cycle by phosphorylating
the proteins that catalyse and regulate the processes of division.
CDKs are controlled by availability of the cyclin proteins with
which they complex to become active, and also controlled by phosphorylation
of key amino acids in the CDK. We have established that cyclin
proteins are located in strategic positions in dividing plant
cells and that the essential plant hormone cytokinin acts through
altering the phosphorylation and catalytic activity of the key
CDK Cdc2.
Our research has strong links with biotechnology companies who
support our efforts to influence plant growth and to speed plant
transformation by using cell cycle components, which we have protected
by patent.
Selected Publications
John PCL (2007) Hormonal regulation of cell cycle progression and its role in development. In: Cell Cycle Control and Plant Development (ed. D Inzé) Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK. in press
Zhang K, Diederich L, John PCL (2005) The cytokinin requirement for cell civision in cultured Nicotiana plumbaginifolia cells can be satisfied by yeast Cdc25 protein tyrosine phosphatase. Implications for mechanisms of cytokinin response and plant development. Plant Physiology 137, 308-316.
Mews M, Sek FJ, Moore R, Volkmann D, Gunning BES, John PCL (1997) Mitotic cyclin distribution during maize cell division: implications for the sequence diversity and function of cyclins in plants. Protoplasma 200, 128-145.
Wu L, Hepler PK John PCL. (1997) The met1 mutation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii causes arrest at mitotic metaphase with persisting p34 cdc2-like H1 histone kinase activity that can promote mitosis when injected into higher plant cells. Protoplasma 199, 135-150.
Hush J, Wu L, John PCL, Hepler LH, Hepler PK (1996) Plant mitosis promoting factor disassembles the microtubule preprophase band and accelerates prophase progression in Tradescantia. Cell Biology International 20, 275-287.
Zhang K, Letham DS, John PCL (1996) Cytokinin controls the cell cycle at mitosis by stimulating tyrosine dephosphorylation and activation of p34 cdc2 -like H1 histone kinase. Planta 200, 2-12.
Hepler PK, Sek FJ, John PCL (1994) Nuclear concentration
and mitotic dispersion of the essential cell cycle protein p13
suc1, examined in living cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA
91, 2176-2180.
Outreach
Pollution
hazards from sporting shooting ranges: environmental and economic
considerations illustrated from an actual proposal at Bodalla
State Forest Australia
CIMMYT Apomixis website
Return
to Plant Cell Biology Group
Back to top
|
