
Emeritus Professor Alistair Hetherington
B.Sc, Ph.D., D.Sc.(UCD, hon causa)
Expertise
We study how plants respond to changes in their environment. To do this we focus on microscopic valve-like structures found on the surfaces of leaves known as stomata, which control leaf water loss and CO2 uptake.
Current positions
Melville Wills Chair in Botany.
School of Biological Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
I am Melville Wills Professor of Botany, Emeritus at the University of Bristol. After graduating in Botany from the University of St. Andrews I chose to remain and carry out research in the field of post-anoxic injury under the supervision of Prof Bob Crawford (Botany) and Dr Ian Hunter (Biochemistry). I then moved to the University of Edinburgh for two years working with Prof Tony Trewavas FRS who introduced me to the subject of calcium-based signalling in plants. I was Tony’s first post-doc in this area and worked on the first membrane-bound protein kinase to be identified in plants. Next I moved to Lancaster as a lecturer where Prof Terry Mansfield FRS introduced me to stomata. I found that the guard cell was an ideal model in which to investigate calcium-based signalling. We found that treating guard cells with ABA brought about an increase in the concentration of cytosolic. This was also true after exposure to a concentration of carbon dioxide that induce stomatal closure. This stimulated a major interest in understanding the control of specificity in calcium-based signalling systems. I moved to Bristol University in 2006 where I have continued my research into the control of stomatal function and development. Over the last 10 years I have become interested in the evolution of stomata in particular their origin and the evolution of the intracellular signalling pathways that underlie their movements. Over the years I have benefitted from strong collaborations with Prof Julie Gray (University of Sheffield, UK), Prof Colin Brownlee (Marine Biological Assocation of the UK) and Prof Joeg Kudla (Muenster, Germany). I currently hold a Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellowship.
Research interests
I am interested in understanding how plants respond to a changing environment. This involves identifying the individual components present in the intracellular signalling pathways responsible for coupling extracellular stimuli to their characteristic responses. To investigate this I focus on stomata, the pores found on the surfaces of leaves. Environmental signals regulate both stomatal development and the aperture of the stomatal pore and our current interests lie in the regulation of stomatal aperture and development by carbon dioxide, ABA and changes in atmospheric relative humidity. Most recently I have become interested in the evolution of stomata, in collaboration with Drs James Clark (Bath) and Sandy Hetherington (Edinburgh) and through collaborators in Sri Lanka, Profs Keerthi and Janaki Mohotti, improving the resilience of tea to climate change.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Improving drought resistance and water use efficiency of tea in Sri Lanka
Principal Investigator
Description
The proposed activities are split into two parts. The fist is to set up formal agreements to pursue joint research objectives concerning improvement of tea in Sri Lanka with…Managing organisational unit
Elizabeth Blackwell InstituteDates
25/01/2021 to 31/07/2021
Transferring knowledge and expertise of how plants respond to drought and climate change gained from research in UoB to Sri Lanka to produce beneficial impacts on the cultivation of cinnamon and tea.
Principal Investigator
Description
The grant will be used to establish research collaboration between Sri Lankan scientist and UoB in the area of how commercially important Sri Lankan crops respond to drought and environment…Managing organisational unit
Elizabeth Blackwell InstituteDates
23/10/2018 to 31/07/2019
Fellowship Aude Coupel-Ledru
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/09/2018 to 31/08/2020
Improving pasture green growth: secondment of Jean-Charles Isner in collaboration with Teagasc and GoldCrop
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
19/03/2018 to 17/06/2018
The power of glacial flour - A novel fertiliser for sustainable agriculture in the developing world
Principal Investigator
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
TBDManaging organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/01/2017 to 01/04/2021
Thesis supervisions
Signal Transduction in Guard Cells
Supervisors
A Novel Stomatal Mutant Implicates Clathrin Mediated Endocytosis as a Factor in Arabidopsis Carbon Dioxide Signalling
Supervisors
An Investigation Into The Effect Of Nuclear And Cytoplasmic Calcium Signalling On Stomatal Opening, Closing And Development
Supervisors
The role of glutamate, Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate and calcium in stomatal responses
Supervisors
The effects of ultraviolet B radiation on dark-induced foliar senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Supervisors
Stomatal glutamate signalling and the role of AtPKG in the control of gene expression.
Supervisors
A Phylogenetic Investigation into the Evolutionary History of Stomata and Land Plants
Supervisors
An investigation into the potential of glacial flour as a novel soil treatment for crops
Supervisors
Investigating the effects of low-dose UV-B and ambient temperature on dark-induced leaf senescence in Arabidopsis
Supervisors
Investigating Stomatal Responses to Darkness
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
17/01/2025The potential for glacial flour to impact soil fertility, crop yield and nutrition in mountain regions
iScience
Valedictory Editorial
New Phytologist
Guard cells count the number of unitary cytosolic Ca2+ signals to regulate stomatal dynamics
Current Biology
Isolation and characterization of the gene HvFAR1 encoding acyl-CoA reductase from the cer-za.227 mutant of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and analysis of the cuticular barrier functions
New Phytologist
Introducing Transformative Plant Biotechnology
New Phytologist