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Current position
Visiting Fellow, Plant Cell Biology Group, RSBS
Career Summary:
My primary research
interest is the functional organisation of plant cells. This research
makes extensive use of advanced methods in light microscopy, including
the confocal imaging of living cells expressing green fluorescent
protein (GFP) and of immunolabelled material.
I currently have several different research projects. The primary project concerns how actin microfilaments and microtubules co-ordinate their functions to regulate cell expansion and elongation in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. We have shown that mutants in which the microtubule cytoskeleton is disrupted become extremely sensitive (hypersensitive) to microfilament disruption. This hypersensitivity response can also be used to identify novel mutants affecting Arabidopsis root growth. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Richard Williamson (Plant Cell Biology, RSBS), Geoff Wasteneys (University of British Colombia) and David McCurdy (University of Newcastle).
Other current research includes a collaboration with John Harper
(Charles Sturt University) investigating the distribution and
function of peroxisomes during cell division in Allium, and a collaboration with Brian Gunning (Plant Cell Biology, RSBS) looking at the organisation of the lipotubuloids in Ornithogalum. I am also currently investigating the organisation
and function of the cortical endoplasmic reticulum in plant cells,
and how it associates with the plasma membrane.
Selected Publications
Collings DA, Lill AW, Himmelspach R, Wasteneys GO (2006) Sensitisation to cytoskeletal antagonists demonstrates microtubule/microfilament interactions in the control of anisotropic cell expansion in roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytologist 170, 275-290.
Gupton SL, Collings DA, Allen NS (2006) Endoplasmic reticulum targeted GFP reveals ER organization in tobacco NT-1 cells during cell division. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 44, 95-105.
Howles PA, Birch RC, Collings DA, Gebbie L, Hurley UA, Hocart C, Arioli T, Williamson RE (2006) A mutation in an Arabidopsis ribose 5-phosphate isomerase reduces cellulose synthesis and is rescued by exogenous uridine. The Plant Journal 48,608-618.
Kawamura E, Himmelspach R, Yeomans AT, Gale K, Collings DA, Wasteneys GO (2006) MICROTUBULE ORGANIZATION 1 regulates structure and function of microtubule arrays during mitosis and cytokinesis in the Arabidopsis root. Plant Physiology 140, 102-114.
Wasteneys GO, Collings DA (2006) The cytoskeleton and co-ordination of directional expansion in a multicellular context. In: The Expanding Cell. (ed. JP Verbelen) Springer-Verlag. in press
Wasteneys GO, Collings DA (2005) Actin microfilament and microtubule distribution patterns in the expanding root of Arabidopsis thaliana. Canadian Journal of Botany 83, 579-590.
Wasteneys GO, Collings
DA (2004) Expanding beyond the great divide: the cytoskeleton
and axial growth. In: The Plant Cytoskeleton in Cell Differentiation
and Development. (ed. PJ Hussey) Blackwell Publishing, CRC
Press, Oxford. pp 83-115.
Collings DA, Vaughn KC, Harper JDI (2003) The association of
peroxisomes with the developing cell plate in dividing onion root
cells depends on actin microfilaments and myosin. Planta 218,
204-216
Gardiner J, Collings DA, Harper JDI, Marc J (2003) The role
of phospholipase D in microtubule organisation and seedling development
in arabidopsis. Plant Cell Physiology 44, 687-696.
Weerasinghe R, Collings DA, Johannes E, Allen NS (2003) Rhizobium meliloti Nod factors cause changes in the distribution of microtubules in Medicago sativa root hairs. Planta 218, 276-287.
Collings DA, Harper JDI, Marc J, Overall RL, Mullen R (2002)
Life in the fast lane: actin-based motility of plant peroxisomes.
Canadian Journal of Botany 80, 430-441.
Gardiner JC, Harper JDI, Weerakoon ND, Collings DA, Ritchie S,
Gilroy S, Cyr RJ, Marc J (2001) A 90-kD phospholipase D from
tobacco binds to microtubules and the plasma membrane. Plant Cell
13, 2143-2158.
Johannes E, Rink JC, Collings DA, Allen NS (2001) Effect of
gravity on cytoplasmic pH dynamics and plastid sedimentation in
bundle sheath cells of maize pulvini. Plant Physiology 127, 119-130.
Srinivasarao M, Collings DA, Philips A, Patel S (2001) Three-dimensionally
ordered array of air bubbles in a polymer film. Science 292, 79-83.
Collings DA, Allen NS (2000) Cortical actin in plants, and
its interactions with the plasma membrane and microtubules. In: Actin: A Dynamic Framework For Multiple Plant Cell Functions. (eds. CJ Staiger, F Baluska, PW Barlow, D Volkmann) Kluwer Academic
Press. pp 145-163.
Collings DA, Carter CE, Rink JC, Scott AC, Wyatt SE, Allen
NS (2000) Plant nuclei can contain extensive grooves and invaginations.
Plant Cell 12, 2425-2440.
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