Robert Hancock

My current research interests focus on the impact of plant genotype, the biotic and the abiotic environment on crop quality with particular focus on the role of reactive oxygen signalling and the cellular redox environment in modulating plant responses to environmental cues. I conduct a mixture of both fundamental and applied research adopting a physiological, biochemical and increasingly molecular approach. Primary crops of interest are potatoes and soft fruit.

The laboratory currently hosts three PhD students. Two of these research projects aim to understand the interaction between genetics and environment in the accumulation of phytochemicals associated with quality in soft fruit (blackcurrants and blueberries) and a further project is examining plant responses to aphids.

In blueberry we aim to understand the relationship between fruit chemistry and sensory attributes in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Strathclyde. In addition, we aim to understand the interplay between crop genetics and growing environment with respect to the accumulation of compounds providing potential health benefits to consumers (vitamin C, polyphenolic antioxidants). Our analytical and biochemical work feeds into a genetic map being produced by colleagues to allow the rapid breeding of blueberry cultivars suitable for production of fruit meeting UK consumer expectations.

A similar approach is being applied to understanding the accumulation of a range of phytochemicals in blackcurrant fruit. Here we aim to characterise genes associated with the accumulation of specific phytochemicals by developing a blackcurrant microarray to allow analysis of global gene expression throughout the course of fruit ripening. Fruit phytochemistry changes dramatically over the course of ripening and by combining phytochemical analysis with gene expression studies we aim to identify genes contributing to phytochemical accumulation. This will feed into the Hutton blackcurrant breeding programme providing candidate genes for cultivar improvement.

Microarray technologies, in combination with metabolome analysis has allowed us to characterise the response of the model plant Arabidopsis to aphid infestation. In collaboration with colleagues at the University of Leeds, we have demonstrated the divergence of local and systemic responses and identified cellular redox processes as key determinants of the plant response. This has been further verified by analysis of mutants that have low vitamin C levels and hence a more oxidised cellular redox environment. Furthermore, we have been able to demonstrate that redox processes are also key in the response of crops (potato) to aphid infestation.

The laboratory is also currently funded by the Scottish Government to develop an understanding of potato to heat stress in order to breed heat resistant cultivars. Our focus is on understanding the impact of high temperatures on carbon partitioning within the plant and the role of redox processes on carbon assimilation, transport and metabolism.