John Innes Centre

Prof Giles Oldroyd

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Curriculum Vitae

  • 1990-1994 University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. 1st class B.S. Honours Biology
  • 1994-1998 University of California, Berkeley. PhD, Plant Biology,
  • 1998-2002 Postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Sharon Long, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Stanford University.
  • 2002 - present David Phillips Fellow and Project leader at the John Innes Centre

Giles Oldroyd

Programme Leader

Disease and Stress Biology

Contact details

giles.oldroyd@bbsrc.ac.uk

Research interests

Legumes form symbiotic interactions with rhizobial bacteria that lead to the formation of nodules on the roots of the host plant. The bacteria reside inside the cells within the nodule and convert molecular dinitrogen (atmospheric nitrogen) to ammonia, a form of nitrogen readily available to the plant. The initial stages of this interaction involve molecular communication between the plant and the bacteria. Nod factor is a critical signalling molecule generated by the bacteria that activates key responses in the plant. The work in this laboratory looks at a number of aspects of the legume/rhizobial symbiosis with a focus on Nod factor perception and signal transduction in the plant. We work on the model legume Medicago truncatula which interacts with the rhizobial species Sinorhizobium meliloti.

Recent Publications

Capoen W., Den Herder J., Sun J., Verplancke C., De Keyser A., De Rycke R., Goormachtig S., Oldroyd G., Holsters M. (2009)
Calcium spiking patterns and the role of the calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase CCaMK in lateral root base nodulation of Sesbania rostrata
Plant Cell 21 (5) 1526-40
DOI:10.1105/tpc.109.066233
Capoen W., Oldroyd G., Goormachtig S., Holsters M. (2009)
Sesbania rostrata: a case study of natural variation in legume nodulation.
New Phytologist
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03124.x
Hazledine S., Sun J., Wysham D., Downie J. A., Oldroyd G. E., Morris R. J. (2009)
Nonlinear time series analysis of nodulation factor induced calcium oscillations: evidence for deterministic chaos?
PLoS One 4 (8) e6637
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0006637
Hirsch S., Kim J., Muņoz A., Heckmann A. B., Downie J. A., Oldroyd G. E. (2009)
GRAS proteins form a DNA binding complex to induce gene expression during nodulation signaling in Medicago truncatula
Plant Cell 21 (2) 545-557
DOI:10.1105/tpc.108.064501
Kiss E., Olah B., Kalo P., Morales M., Heckmann A. B., Borbola A., Lozsa A., Kontar K., Middleton P., Downie J. A., Oldroyd G. E., Endre G. (2009)
LIN, a novel type of U-box/WD40 protein, controls early infection by rhizobia in legumes.
Plant Physiology 151 (3) 1239-1249
DOI:10.1104/pp.109.143933
Oldroyd G. E., Harrison M. J., Paszkowski U. (2009)
Reprogramming plant cells for endosymbiosis.
Science 324 (5928) 753-4
DOI:10.1126/science.1171644
Rogers C., Wen J., Chen R., Oldroyd G. (2009)
Deletion-based reverse genetics in Medicago truncatula.
Plant Physiology 151 (3) 1077-86
DOI:10.1104/pp.109.142919
Yokota K., Fukai E., Madsen L. H., Jurkiewicz A., Rueda P., Radutoiu S., Held M., Hossain M. S., Szczyglowski K., Morieri G., Oldroyd G. E., Downie J. A., Nielsen M. W., Rusek A. M., Sato S., Tabata S., James E. K., Oyaizu H., Sandal N., Stougaard J. (2009)
Rearrangement of actin cytoskeleton mediates invasion of Lotus japonicus roots by Mesorhizobium loti
Plant Cell 21 (1) 267-84
DOI:10.1105/tpc.108.063693
Capoen W., Oldroyd G. (2008)
How CYCLOPS keeps an eye on plant symbiosis.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105 (51) 20053-4
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0811417106
Ding Y., Kalo P., Yendrek C., Sun J., Liang Y., Marsh J. F., Harris J. M., Oldroyd G. (2008)
Abscisic acid coordinates nod factor and cytokinin signaling during the regulation of nodulation in Medicago truncatula
Plant Cell 20 (10) 2681-2695
DOI:10.1105/tpc.108.061739
Kosuta S., Hazledine S., Sun J., Miwa H., Morris R. J., Downie J. A., Oldroyd G. E. (2008)
Differential and chaotic calcium signatures in the symbiosis signaling pathway of legumes.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105 (28) 9823-8
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0803499105
Oldroyd G. E., Downie J. A. (2008)
Coordinating nodule morphogenesis with rhizobial infection in legumes.
Annual Review of Plant Biology 59 519-546
DOI:10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092839
Vernie T., Moreau S., de Billy F., Plet J., Combier J. P., Rogers C., Oldroyd G., Frugier F., Niebel A., Gamas P. (2008)
EFD is an ERF transcription factor involved in the control of nodule number and differentiation in Medicago truncatula
Plant Cell 20 (10) 2696-2713
DOI:10.1105/tpc.108