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 | Clive Lloyd
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, United Kingdom | | | Faculty Member: PLANT BIOLOGY > Plant cell biology [ since 7 December 2006 ] |
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Clive Lloyd
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
John Innes Centre
NORWICH
NR4 7UH
UK
Email: clive.lloyd@bbsrc.ac.uk
Research interests:
The cytoskeleton and the cellular morphogenesis of plants.
We are trying to understand the basic processes of cell division and expansion that help to shape the growth of plants. Plant microtubules self-organize into complex arrays without the assistance of defined nucleation sites. We have used different ways of examining how the cortical microtubule array is formed. Some microtubule-associated proteins control the dynamics of these highly mobile cortical microtubules while others (like MAP65) control the interactions between microtubules necessary for building the individual, dispersed tubules into whole-cell arrays. Several MAPs have been studied, including novel, plant-specific ones identified by proteomics.
The cortical microtubule array is thought to provide a template for the alignment of shape-retaining cellulose microfibrils in the cell wall. This array is highly dynamic and we have used various GFP fusion proteins to follow the surprisingly complex movement of microtubules as they migrate around the cell. It is likely that the shape of elongating interphase cells is influenced by changes in the dynamics and the interactivity of microtubules.
We are also interested in the alignment of the new cross-wall since this plays a key part in mapping out tissue space. We have identified a microtubule-associated protein, AIR9, that decorates the predictive preprophase band of microtubules and then reappears at this cortical division site after mitosis, when the outwardly-growing cross wall makes contact. This protein is likely to be involved in the process whereby the division plane, which in plants is determined before mitosis, is memorized until cytokinesis. | Home page
http://www.jic.bbsrc.ac.uk/STAFF/clive-lloyd |
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