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Faculties & Departments
Department of Biology
Dr. Jaqueline Nugent
Head of Laboratory
Plant Biology Laboratory
- Dr. Jaqueline Nugent
- Tel: (353-1) 708 3857; Fax: (353-1) 708 3845;
- e-mail: jackie.nugent@nuim.ie
- Institute of Bioengineering and Agroecolog
Research Interests
The research of this laboratory focuses on a number of different aspects of plant molecular biology and evolution. From a basic science perspective we are interested in how plant developmental processes can evolve. One of the most variable morphological characters evident throughout flowering plants is flower shape. Flowers can be classified as either bilaterally symmetric (zygomorphic) having only one plane of symmetry, radially symmetric (actinomorphic) having more than one plane of symmetry or asymmetric having no plane of symmetry. The gene regulatory network that determines flower shape has been best studied in the model plant Antirrhinum majus and three genes cycloidea, dichotoma, and divericata play a major role in controlling flower shape in Antirrhinum. Several independent molecular systematic studies of the Scrophulariaceae place Antirrhinum within the Veronicaceae [Plantaginaceae sensu AGG II (2003)] a very highly supported clade that includes the Antirrhinae, Digitaleae and Plantaginaceae. One of the interesting aspects of this clade is the degree of progression from zygomorphy to actinomorphy exhibited by different representative genera and the shift from biotic pollination (Antirrhinum and Digitalis) to wind pollination (Plantago). Flower shape ranges from pronounced zygomorphy in Antirrhinum, to reduced zygomorphy in Digitalis, to actinomorphy in Plantago. The phylogenetic placement of Plantago within the Veronicaceae where it is nested well within a clade that includes mostly zygomorphic, or near-zygomorphic, genera makes it an excellent system in which to investigate the developmental mechanisms that might underlie reversals to actinomorphy and associated changes in pollination syndrome. The genetic program underlying zygomorphy has been clearly established in Antirrhinum and loss of CYC-like gene function in Antirrhinum results in actinomorphic flowers. The questions we are asking is whether the shift to actinomorphy and associated shift to wind pollination seen in Plantago has come about by similar mechanisms that underlie mutant phenotypes in Antirrhinum. To this end we are characterizing a range of flower shape genes in Plantago lanceolata. This study should aid in the elucidation of a general model for how changes in floral shape are achieved as well as providing insight on the associated changes in pollination syndrome.
More applied work in the lab is focusing on developing plants as production systems for high value recombinat proteins – e.g. plant based vaccines. Two projects are currently ongoing in this area. In both tobacco plastid transformation is being used to produce transplastomic plants expressing candidate HIV antigenic proteins and peptides and candidate H. pylori antigenic proteins.
Laboratory Personnel
Postgraduate students
- Aisling Dunne, BSc
- Orlaith McGrath, BSc
Funding Sources
SFI, Departmental Funding
Recent Publications
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Lelivelt, C.L.C., M.S. McCabe, C.A. Newell, M. de Snoo, K.M.P. van Dun, I. Birch-Machin, J.C. Gray, K.H.G. Mills , J.M. Nugent. Stable plastid transformation in lettuce Lactuca sativa L. Plant Molecular Biology, 58, 763-774 (2005).
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Nugent, J.M. and S.M Joyce. Producing human therapeutic proteins in plastids. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 11, 2459-2470 (2005).
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Cummings, M.P., J.M. Nugent , Olmstead, R., and Palmer, J.D. Molecular and Phylogenetic Analysis Reveals Five, and Implies Many More, Independent Transfers of the Chloroplast Gene rbcL to the Mitochondrial Genome in Angiosperms. Current Genetics 43(2), 131-138 (2003).
- K.L. Adams, K. Song, P.G. Roessler, J.M. Nugent, J.L. Doyle, J.J. Doyle and J.D. Palmer. Intracellular gene transfer in action: Dual transcription and multiple silencings of nuclear and mitochondrial cox2 genes in legumes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 96, 13863-13868 (1999).