The Groups > Professor John Patrick
 

Professor John Patrick
Personal Chair
Biological Sciences
School of Environmental and Life Sciences
Biological Sciences Building
Faculty of Science and Information Technology
The University of Newcastle
Callaghan
NSW 2308

Personal Website Address: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/discipline/biology/staff/profile/jp_prof.html
Email : John.Patrick@newcastle.edu.au

Research Aims
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The Big Question

  • Regulation of phloem unloading of nutrients

The Short-term goals

  • Clone and functionally characterise membrane transporters responsible for nutrient release from transport cells.
  • Discover the key events responsible for turgor regulation of nutrient release from transport cells.
  • Elucidate how metabolic demand is co-ordinated with activity of membrane transporters.
  • Evaluate the role of membrane transporters in regulating nutrient unloading from the phloem.

Research Interests

  • Post-phloem transport in sink regions using developing seeds and fruit as experimental models: cellular pathway; mechanisms and control of membrane transport; molecular biology of sugar transporters; regulation of transfer cell development.

  • Restoration of disturbed ecosystems: re-instating sustainable nutrient cycles using endemic native species; phytoremediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals.

Current projects include:

  • Phloem unloading of sucrose:cloning, functional characterisation and regulation of novel membrane transporters (with Prof W. Frommer, University of California, Professor NA Walker, University of NSW and Dr S. Lalonde, Tuebingen University, Germany).

  • Multifunctional channels as key components of biotrophic interfaces in legumes (with Professor SD Tyerman, University of Adelaide ).

  • Molecular analysis & genetic manipulation of sucrose transport in cereals (with Associate Professor C. E. Offler and Dr R. Furbank, CSIRO Plant Industry).

  • Molecular biology of hexose transporters in developing tomato fruit (with Dr D. W.McCurdy).

  • Regulation of transfer cell development (with Associate Professor C. E. Offler)

  • Re-instating sustainable nutrient cycles on mined land using endemic native species (with Mr M. Cole and Associate Professor C. E. Offler).
Group (lab) Members and areas of research
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  • Professor J. W. Patrick - Regulation of phloem unloading; regulation of transfer cell development; restoration of disturbed ecosytems.

  • Associate Professor C.E. Offler - Biology of transfer cells; restoration of disturbed ecosystems.

  • Dr D. W. McCurdy - Cell and molecular biology of cell wall formation in transfer cells; molecular biology of hexose transporters.

  • Dr Y. Zhou - Cloning and functional characterisation of membrane transporters responsible for nutrient release.

  • Dr C. Koller - Phytoremediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals.

  • Mr M. Cole - Restoration of disturbed ecosystems.

  • Dr C. Castor - Restoration of the ecological dynamics of seeds in disturbed soil

Techniques in the Laboratory
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Currently active

  • Cloning of membrane transporters by hybridisation.
  • Manipulation of transporter expression in transgenic plants - overexpression; ihRNA under expression.
  • Expression analysis - Northern; Westerns; in situ hybridisation; immunolocalisation.
  • Confocal microscopy; scanning and transmission electron microscopy.
  • In planta transporter studies using radioisotopes.
  • Organ culture
  • Functional analysis using photosynthetic gas exchange

In development

  • Cloning of membrane transporters by complementation.
  • Functional characterisation of membrane transporters by expression in yeast.
  • Plasma membrane vesicle system to study membrane transporters responsible for nutrient release.
  • Characterization of soil media for physical and nutritional characteristics related to restoring native forest ecosystems.
Main areas of expertise
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Top three areas of knowledge

  1. Nutrient loading of seeds
  2. Phloem transport physiology
  3. Sugar transporters and transport

Top three technical skills

  1. In planta transporter studies using radioisotopes.
  2. Innovative generalist
Funding
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Current

  • ACARP (with M Cole & CE Offler); 2003-2005; $240,000.
  • ARC-DP 2003-2005; $205, 000.
  • ARC-DP (with SD Tyerman); 2003-2005; $270,000.
  • Industry/APRA (with D. W. McCurdy); 2000 - 2004; $98,000
  • Industry/APRA (with M. Cole, CE Offler & M Mahony); 2003-2006; $98,000.

Applications planned

  • ACARP - Using species interactions, substrate characteristics, and selectivity in the provision of nutrients to plants by microbes, to combat exotic weeds during ecosystem restoration.
  • ARC Linkage - Genetic manipulation of sugar accumulation in developing tomato fruit.
  • ARC Linkage - Phytoremediation of arsenic contaminated soils using endemic plant species.
A statement on the most significant contributions to this research field
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The paradigm that sink processes exert primary control over biomass distribution in plants (Patrick 1997) has guided my approach to discovering how nutrient transport is regulated. Regulation of photoassimilate transport by sink-produced hormones was elucidated, the most elegant work showing apical sinks control sucrose import by auxin regulation of phloem-path conductance (Patrick 1979). In larger sinks, control is restricted to sink transport processes (Patrick 1997) to which we gained experimental access through an innovative developing seed model (Patrick 1983). This model has contributed substantially to understanding cellular pathway, mechanism and control of nutrient transport in sinks (Patrick 1997). Employing novel structure/function studies, CE Offler and I showed that nutrient release/uptake occurs in specialised transport cells located at maternal/filial seed interfaces (Patrick 1997). With NA Walker, sucrose release from maternal seed tissues was shown to be energy coupled by a proton antiport mechanism (Patrick 1997) and that uptake by their filial tissues occurs by sucrose/H + symport (McDonald et al., 1996). The latter finding was the first direct demonstration of transport function of higher plant transfer cells. Together, these findings underpin a collaboration with W Frommer in cloning genes encoding sucrose/ (Tegeder et al., 1999) and amino acid/ (Tegeder et al., 2000) H + symporters and prospectively, sucrose effluxers. Recently, a molecular genetic approach established that sucrose transporters play a central role in determining biomass accumulation by seeds (Rosche et al., 2002). With SD Tyerman and Walker, we discovered channels, including novel non-selective channels, responsible for release of phloem-imported ions from seed coats (Zhang et al., 2002 and earlier publications). Coordination of transport events in maternal and filial seed tissues are considered to be turgor regulated (Patrick 1994) through turgor homeostasis of maternal seed tissue (Zhang et al., 1996). In collaboration with RT Furbank, these approaches have been applied to discovering cellular pathways, mechanisms and controls of photoassimilate transport in developing seeds of cereals (Bagnall et al., 2000; Furbank et al., 2001; Aoki et al., 2002)

Publications - Last 5 Years
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  • Lalonde S, Tegede M., Throne-Holst M, Frommer WB & Patrick JW (2003). Phloem loading and unloading of amino acids and sugars. Plant Cell and Environment 26 , 37-56.

  • Zhang W-H, Skerrett M, Walker NA. Patrick JW & Tyerman SD (2002). Non-selective channels in plasma membranes of protoplasts from coats of developing seeds of bean. Plant Physiology 128 , 388-399.

  • Rosche E, Blackmore D, Tegeder M, Richarson T, Schroeder H, HigginsTVJ, Frommer WB, Offler CE and Patrick JW . (2002). Seed-specific expression of a potato sucrose transporter increases sucrose uptake and growth rates of developing pea cotyledons. Plant Journal 30 , 165-175.

  • Gear M, McPhillips M, Patrick JW & McCurdy DW (2000). Hexose transporters of tomato: molecular cloning, expression analysis and functional characterization. Plant Molecular Biology 44 , 687-697.

  • Tegeder M, Offler CE, Frommer WB & Patrick JW (2000). Amino acid transporters are localized to transfer cells of developing pea seeds. Plant Physiology 122 , 319-326.

  • Walker NA, Zhang W-H, Harrington G, Holdaway N and Patrick JW . (2000). Effluxes of solutes from developing coats of Phaseolus vulgaris L. & Vicia faba L.: Locating the effects of turgor in a coupled chemiosomotic system. Journal of Experimental Botany 51 , 1047-1055.

  • Aoki, N., Scofield, G. N., Wang, X-D., Patrick, J. W., Offler, C. E. and Furbank, R. T. (in press). Expression and localisation of the wheat sucrose transporter TaSUT1 in vegetative tissues. Planta.

  • Throne-Holst, M., Offler, C. E. and Patrick, J. W. (in press). Assimilate transport to developing seeds. In “ The Encyclopedia of Seeds: Science, Technology and Uses”. (ed. J. D. Bewley, M. Black and P Halmer). CAB International. Wallingford, UK.

  • Van Bel, A. J. E. and Patrick, J. W. (in press). Phloem transport. In “ Molecular Plant Physiology” (ed. R. P Sharma). Haworth Press, New York.

  • Zhang, W-H., Walker, N. A., Patrick, J. W. and Tyerman, S. D. (in press) Pulsing Cl - channels in coat cells of developing bean seeds linked to hypo-osmotic turgor regulation. Journal of Experimental Botany.

  • Zhang, W-H., Walker, N. A., Patrick, J. W. and Tyerman, S. D. (in press). Calcium-dependent K current in plasma membranes of dermal cells of developing bean cotyledons. Plant, Cell & Environment.27, 251-262.

  • Lalonde, S., Tegeder, M., Throne-Holst, M., Frommer, W. B. and Patrick, J. W. (2003). Phloem loading and unloading of amino acids and sugars. Plant Cell and Environment26, 37-56.

  • Offler, C. E., McCurdy, D. W., Patrick, J. W. and Talbot, M. J. (2003). Transfer cells: Cells specialized for a special purpose. Annual Review of Plant Biology 54, 431-454.

  • Patrick, J. W ., van Bel, A. J. E. and Offler, C. E. (2003). Seed development - nutrient loading. In “Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences”. (ed B. Thomas, D. Murphy and B. Murray). Pp. 1240-1249. Academic Press. London.

  • Van Bel, A. J. E., Offler, C. E. and Patrick, J. W. (2003). Environmental regulation of growth and development – sources and sinks. In “Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences”. (ed. B. Thomas, D. Murphy and B. Murray). Pp 724 – 734. Academic Press. London.

  • Ritchie, R., Fieuw-Makeroff, S. and Patrick, J. W. (2003). Sugar retrieval by coats of developing seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Vicia faba L. Plant Cell and Physiology42, 163-172.

  • Aoki, N., Whitfield, P., Hoeren, F., Scofield, G., Newell, K., Patrick, J., Offler, C., Clarke, B., Rahman, S. and Furbank, R. T. (2002). Three sucrose transporter genes are expressed in the developing grain of hexaploid wheat. Plant Molecular Biology50, 453-462.

  • Rosche, E., Blackmore, D., Tegeder, M., Richardson, T., Schroeder, H., Higgins, T. J. V., Frommer, W. B., Offler, C. E. and Patrick, J. W., (2002). Seed-specific expression of a potato sucrose transporter increases sucrose uptake and growth rates of developing pea cotyledons. Plant Journal 30, 165-175.

  • Zhang, W-H., Skerrett, M., Walker, N.A., Patrick, J. W. and Tyerman, S. D. (2002). Non-selective channels in plasma membranes of protoplasts from coats of developing seeds of bean. Plant Physiology 128, 1187-1196.

  • Furbank, R. T., Scofield, G., Hirose, T., Wang, X-D., Patrick, J. W. and Offler, C. E. (2001). Cellular localisation and function of a sucrose transporter OsSUT1 in developing rice grains. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology. 29, 1187-1196.

  • Patrick, J. W . and Offler, C. E. (2001). Compartmentation of transport and transfer events in developing seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany52, 551-564

  • Patrick, J. W ., Zhang, W-H., Tyerman, S. D., Offler, C. E and Walker N. A. (2001). Role of membrane transport in phloem translocation of assimilates and water. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 28, 1–13.

  • Bagnall, N., Wang, X-D., Scofield, G. N., Furbank, R. T., Offler, C. E. and Patrick, J. W. (2000). Sucrose transport-related genes are expressed in both maternal and filial tissues of developing wheat grains. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology27, 1009-1020.

  • Farley, S. J., Patrick, J. W. and Offler, C.E. (2000). Transfer cell differentiate in cultured cotyledons of Vicia faba L. seeds. Protoplasma214, 102-117.

  • Gear, M., McPhillips, M., Patrick, J. W. and McCurdy, D. W. (2000). Hexose transporters of tomato: molecular cloning, expression analysis and functional characterization. Plant Molecular Biology44, 687-697.

  • Offler, C. E., Thorpe, M. and Patrick, J.W.(2000). Assimilate transport and partitioning: Integration of structure, function and molecular biology. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology27, 473-476.

  • Tegeder, M., Offler, C.E., Frommer, W.B. and Patrick, J.W. (2000a) Amino acid transporters are localized to transfer cells of developing pea seeds. Plant Physiology122, 319-326.

  • Tegeder, M., Thomas, M., Hetherington, L., Wang, X.-D., Offler, C.E. and Patrick, J.W. (2000b) Genotypic differences in seed growth rates of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Factors contributing to cotyledon sink activity and sink size. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology27, 119-128.

  • Thomas, M., Hetherington, L. and Patrick, J.W. (2000). Genotypic differences in seed growth rates of Phaseolus vulgaris L. General characteristics, seed coat factors and comparative roles of seed coats and cotyledons. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology27, 109-118.

  • Walker , N. A., Zhang, W-H., Harrington, G., Holdaway, N. and Patrick, J.W. (2000). Effluxes of solutes from developing coats of Phaseolus vulgaris L. & Vicia faba L.: Locating the effects of turgor in a coupled chemiosomotic system. Journal of Experimental Botany51, 1047-1055

  • Zhang, W-H., Walker, N. A., Tyerman, S. D. and Patrick, J. W. (2000). Fast-activation of a time-dependent outward current in protoplasts derived from coats of developing Phaseolus vulgaris seeds. Planta211, 894-898.

  • Llalonde, S. L., Bole, E., Hellmann, H., Ward, J. M., Patrick, J. W. and Frommer, W.B. (1999). A dual function of plant sugar carriers in transport and sugar sensing. Plant Cell11,702-726.

  • Tegeder, M., Wang, X-D., Frommer, W. B., Offler, C. E. and Patrick, J. W. (1999). Sucrose transport into developing seeds of Pisum sativum L. Plant Journal18, 151-161.
Ten Career Best Publications
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  • Patrick, JW. (1979). Auxin-promoted transport of metabolites in stems of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Further studies on effects remote from the site of hormone application. Journal of Experimental Botany. 30, 1 - 13.

  • Patrick, JW. (1983). Photosynthate unloading from seed coats of Phaseolus vulgaris L. General characteristics and facilitated transfer. Zeitschrift fur Pflanzenphysiologie 111, 9-18.

  • Patrick, JW . (1994). Turgor-dependent unloading of assimilates from coats of developing legume seed. Assessment of the significance of the phenomenon in the whole plant. Physiologia Plantarum 90, 645 - 654.

  • McDonald, R., Fieuw, S. & Patrick, JW. (1996). Sugar uptake by the dermal transfer cells of developing cotyledons of Vicia faba L. II. Mechanism of energy coupling. Planta 198, 502 - 509.

  • Zhang, W., Atwell, BJ., Patrick, JW. & Walker, NA. (1996). Turgor-dependent efflux of assimilates from coats of developing seed of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Water relations of the efflux cells. Planta 199, 25 - 33.

  • Patrick, JW. (1997). Phloem unloading: Sieve element unloading and post-sieve element transport. Annual Review of Plant Physiology & Plant Molecular Biology 48, 191 - 222.

  • Tegeder, M., Wang, X-D., Frommer, WB., Offler, CE. & Patrick, JW. (1999). Sucrose transport into developing seeds of Pisum sativum L. Plant Journal18, 151-161.

  • Rosche E, Blackmore D., Tegeder M., Richarson T., Schroeder H., Higgins TJV., Frommer, WB., Offler CE. & Patrick JW. (2002). Seed-specific expression of a potato sucrose transporter increases sucrose uptake and growth rates of developing pea cotyledons. Plant Journal 30, 165-175.

  • Zhang W-H., Skerrett M., Walker NA., Patrick JW. & Tyerman SD. (2002). Non-selective channels in plasma membranes of protoplasts from coats of developing seeds of bean. Plant Physiology128, 1187-1196.

  • Lalonde, S., Tegeder, M., Throne-Holst, M., Frommer, W. B. and Patrick, J. W. (2003). Phloem loading and unloading of amino acids and sugars. Plant Cell and Environment26, 37-56.

 

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