Isabelle Colas

Plant Molecular Geneticist
Cell and Molecular Sciences
E: Isabelle.Colas@hutton.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)344 928 5428 (*)
Breeding programmes rely on meiotic recombination to develop new varieties, however, in barley, large part of the chromosomes exhibits very low genetic recombination. To understand barley meiosis, she characterized a number of barley mutants (bowman isoline), aiming at modulating the distribution of recombination across the genome. Moreover, the use of 3D-SIM microscopy highlighted specific organization of the barley genome and crossover regulation when compared to Arabidopsis studies. A breakthrough for her lab is the discovery that the absence of the barley E3 ubiquitin ligase HvST1 increases recombination by 50%.  Her current research focuses on understanding and utilizing HvST1 and other meiotic genes to modulate recombination in barley to increase gene diversity.

Biography

After my university degrees I was determined to work on crop improvement for breeding and make a better food for the future. I started my career in a private company, AGROGENE S.A., specialised in providing molecular markers for breeding program and GMO testing for the worldwide seed market. Supervised by Dr P. Isaac, I was specialised in technical support for our sequencers/analyzer/robot (Applied Biosystems ABI310, 3100, 7700 &7900 and Qiagen robot Q3000) and developing new molecular biology protocols.

I then decided to increase my experience in crop science and started a PhD at the John Innes Centre with Pr G. Moore and P.J. Shaw on the wheat Ph1 locus topic. This is were I developed my main interest in meiosis and the use of cytogenetic techniques to elucidate gene mechanism. I also successfully developed a proteomic approach to study phosphorylation of wheat histone during meiosis and it’s affect on chromatin remodelling one of my favourite topic.

I joined the Scottish Crop Research Institute in 2010 to work on barley meiosis in collaboration with various partner (MeioSys) from the meiosis field and the university of Dundee (A. Barakate, C. Halpin). I also collaborated on establishing the chromatin landscape of barley seedlings in collaboration with A. Flavell. Over the years, I  played a central role in establishing the intellectual and cytological capacity to study meiosis in both barley and wheat (Colas et al, 2017).  Taking advantage of super resolution microscopy (3D-SIM OMX), and excellent genetic resources, including a collection of independent barley DESYNAPTIC mutants, I have characterised both profound and subtle differences in the modulation of crossing over in large genome crops when compared to the model plant Arabidopsis (Colas et al, 2016, 2017, 2019). In the process I discovered a unique chromosome structure, that I called tinsel, which provided information on how large genomes organize themselves to maintain their integrity during meiosis (1st prize GE healthcare imaging competition). Through the establishment of a collaboration with Dr Pierre Sourdille (INRA, FRANCE) on wheat meiosis it has been shown that wheat chromosomes also form tinsel chromosome structures.

I established myself as an independent investigatator by winning a New Investigator grant in 2019 (BB/T008636/1) to continue my research and passion for crop meiosis.

Research

Breeding programmes have the objectives to develop more productive and more stable varieties. Hybridization and selection are frequently employed in plant breeding but the success of introgression of special traits such as disease resistance relies on genetic recombination between the host and alien chromosomes.  However, in cereals such as wheat, rye and barley, genetic recombination (gene shuffling) is not only restricted in number but also high near the telomeres (end of the chromosomes), and rare towards the centromeres (middle of the chromosomes). Because gene shuffling  is more frequent towards the telomeres, large area of the chromosomes rarely recombines, despite containing a large number of gene of interrest (e.g pest resistance). Therefore, a better understanding of chromosome pairing, synapsis and recombination would enable in creating tools for manipulation of meiosis to improve cereal breeding.

Over the years, we have characterized several spontanous and induced barley meiotic mutants, and highlighted differences between Arabidopsis and barley, showing the importance in studying meiosis in crops. In particulal, we have identified  a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase called STICKY TELOMERES 1 (HvST1) that causes disturbed meiosis in homozygous mutants but also, and surprisingly, a dramatic increase in effective recombination of around 50% in all chromosomes (BB/T008636/1). We are currently looking at the role of the ubiquitination process in controlling meiosis. This work has been instrumental for the success of a BBSRC Alert21 proposal that enabled us to design and purchase a new STED microscope custom made for the imaging of plant tissues. As project co-investigator, I will develop STED imaging of barley meiosis at the James Hutton Institute.

I am also interrested to develop material and protocols to benefit plant breeding and help to deliver new varieties which would be more resilient to climate change and/or emerging diseases. For example, I have been co-investigator for the Innovate UK project 102778 DRRUM with KWS-UK which utilised meiotic screening to facilitate the breeding process. Currently, I am co-PI  of the project IncReaCe (Increasing Recombination for Cereal Pre-Breeding, APP2456) that aims to increase recombination in barley/wild relative crosses in collaboration with Luke Ramsay (Project lead).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Publications

Journals

Prior to appointment

Books

Conference papers

  • Colas, I.; Tiang, C.; Wang, M.; Sheehan, M.; Pawlowski, W. (2014) Pam1, and RNA Binding Protein required for chromosome dynamics in meiosis., Plant and Animal Genome XXII, San Diego, California, USA, 12-16 January 2014.

Conference posters

  • Colas, I. (2020) Race for barley., James Hutton Institute Barley Away Day, Dunkeld, UK, 6-7 February 2020.
  • Colas, I.; Macaulay, M.; Mittmann, S.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2019) Using barley mutants to understand meiosis and recombination in cereals., COST INDEPTH SEB Conference, Spain, 8-12 December 2019.
  • Ramsay, L.; Colas, I.; Macaulay, M.; Sandhu, A.; Armstrong, S.; Waugh, R. (2019) Desynaptic8 is a spontaneous mutation in X-Ray Repair Cross Complementing 2 (XRCC2) in barley. , British Meiosis Meeting, Aberystwyth, UK, 17-18 April 2019.
  • Schreiber, M.; Barakate, A.; Uzrek, N.; Colas, I.; Lewandowska, D.; Macaulay, M.; Mittmann, S.; Arrieta, M.; Clavijo, B.; Wright, J.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2018) Developing bioinformatics resources to study meiosis in the barley cultivar Golden Promise., Plant and Animal Genome, Sa Diego, USA, 13-17 January 2018.
  • Barakate, A.; Schreiber, M.; Stephens, J.; Davidson, D.; Uzrek, N.; Macaulay, M.; Colas, I.; Lewandowska, D.; Sourdille, A.; Arrieta, M.; Mittmann, S.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2018) Targeted mutagenesis of meiotic genes in barley (Hordeum vulgare): Understanding and manipulating meiotic crossovers., Monogram 2018, Norwich, UK, 24-26 April 2018.
  • Colas, I.; Mittmann, S.;Macaulay, M.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2018) Using barley mutants to understand meiosis and recombination in cereals., British Meiosis Meeting, Brighton, UK, 24-25 April 2018. (Poster)
  • Barakate, A.; Stephens, J.; Colas, I.; Schreiber, M.; Lewandowska, D.; Uzrek, N.; Macaulay, M.; Arrieta, M.; Mittmann, S.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2017) Understanding and manipulating meiotic crossovers in barley (Hordeum vulgare)., British Meiosis Meeting, Dundee, 19-20 April 2017. Poster
  • Lewandowska, D.; Uzrek, N.; Ten Have, S.; Hodge, K.; Colas, I.; Barakate, A.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2017) Proteomic profile of barley male meiocytes at early stages of meiosis., British Meiosis Meeting, Dundee, 19-20 April 2017. Poster.
  • Mittmann, S.; Ramsay, L.; Macaulay, M.; Waugh, R.; Colas, I. (2017) Discovery of novel E3 ubiquitin ligase by fine mapping and characterization of the barley desynaptic mutant des12., British Meiosis Meeting, Dundee, 19-20 April 2017. Poster.
  • Mittmann, S.; Ramsay, L.; Macaulay, M.; Waugh, R.; Colas, I. (2016) Control of meiosis and recombination in barley; Characterization and fine mapping of the barley desynaptic mutant des12., EPSO/FESPB Meeting , Prague, 26-30 June 2016. Poster.
  • Baker, K.; Cook, N.; Bayer, M.; Colas, I.; Ramsay, L.; Russell, J.; Flavell, A.J. (2014) Epigenome of barley: Development and optimisation of a ChiP-Seq protocol to investigate histone modification in barley., Plant and Animal Genome XXII, San Diego, California, USA, 12-16 January 2014.
  • Baker, K.; Bayer, M.; Cook, N.; Dreissig, S.; Dhillon, T.; Russell, J.; Hedley, P.; Morris, J.; Colas, I.; Waugh, R.; Steffenson, B.; Milne, I.; Stephen, G.; Marshall, D.; Flavell, A.J. (2014) The peri-centromeric heterochromatin of barley is a permissive environment for gene diversity, expression and evolution., Plant and Animal Genome XXII, San Diego, California, USA, 12-16 January 2014.
  • Macaulay, M.; Colas, I.; Waugh, R.; Ramsay, L. (2014) Mapping and characterization of the barley desynaptic mutants., Plant and Animal Genome XXII, San Diego, California, USA, 12-16 January 2014.
  • Colas, I.; Macaulay, M.; Mittmann, S.; Waugh, R.; Ramsay, L. (2014) Cytological characterization of the barley desynaptic mutants., Plant and Animal Genome XXII, San Diego, California, USA, 12-16 January 2014.
  • Colas, I.; Macaulay, M.; Waugh, R.; Ramsay, L. (2013) Fine mapping and characterization of the barley desynpatic des10., EMBO Meiosis Conference, Germany, September 2013.
  • Colas, I.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2013) A review of the barley desynaptic mutants., Monogram 2013, Dundee University, 18 April 2013.
  • Colas, I.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2012) Chiamasta formation in barley is determined at early meiosis., UK Plant Science Meeting 2012, Norwich.
  • Colas, I.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2012) A review of the barley desynaptic mutants., Chromosome Biology, Genome Evolution and Speciation, 11th Gatersleben Research Conference, Germany, 23-25 April 2012.
  • Colas, I.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2012) A review of the barley desynaptic mutants., 4th British Meiosis Meeting, University of Birmingham, 28 March 2012.
  • Colas, I.; Ramsay, L.; Waugh, R. (2011) Control of meiotic recombination in barley., Plant and Animal Genome XIX, San Diego, California, USA, 15-19 January 2011. (Poster)