BRUSSELS, May 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ A meeting was held between Dr Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner of Health & Food Safety and well established and respected scientists (Prof. Sir Colin Berry, Prof. Alan Boobis, Prof. Wolfgang Dekant, Prof. Daniel Dietrich, Prof. Helmut Greim, Prof. Pat Heslop-Harrison and Prof. Richard Sharpe) in the fields of human risk assessment and…
Author: Pat Heslop-Harrison
Professor of Molecular Cytogenetics and Cell Biology, University of Leicester. Group Leader, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Programme, grant and journal reviewer and editor.
Research: genome evolution, breeding and biodiversity in agricultural species; the impact of agriculture; evaluation of research and advanced training.
Characterization and diversity of novel PIF/Harbinger DNA transposons in Brassica genomes
331. Nouroz F, Noreen S, Heslop-Harrison J.S. 2016. Characterization and diversity of novel PIF/Harbinger DNA transposons in Brassica genomes. Pakistani Journal of Botany 48(1): 167-178. http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/48(1)/21.pdf Among DNA transposons, PIF/Harbinger is most recently identified superfamily characterized by 3 bp target site duplications (TSDs), flanked by 14-45 bp terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) and displaying DDD or…
Saffron crocus, cooking and Iran on the radio
The spice Saffron is valued worldwide for its flavor, aroma and color. I’ve just broadcast an interview with Robin Young produced by Jill Ryan for NPR’s Here and Now program which let me tell you something about my enjoyment of saffron both as a consumer and scientist. Saffron is unusual in that it is equally…
Preparation and fluorescent analysis of plant metaphase chromosomes
TS. Schwarzacher T. 2016. Preparation and fluorescent analysis of plant metaphase chromosomes. Chapter 7. In: Plant Cell Division: Methods and Protocols, ed Caillaud M-C; Methods in Molecular Biology 1370: 87-103. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3142-2_7. Humana Press, Springer, New York. Local Copy: Chromosome Preparation. Trude Schwarzacher. http://www.molcyt.com Good preparations are essential for informative analysis of both somatic and…
Saffron Crocus, quality and fraud in New York Times
Elaine Sciolino discusses saffron in the New York Times. Saffronomics partners Jean Thiercelin and Pat Heslop-Harrison are quoted, with the outcome of the project in developing methods to detect fraud and measure quality. In the article, the special qualities of saffron are discussed and many examples of the use in sweet and savoury foods explain the value in…
The molecular cytogenetic characterization of pistachio (Pistacia vera) suggests the arrest of recombination in the largest heteropycnotic pair HC1
TS. Sola-Campoy PJ, Robles F, Schwarzacher T, Ruiz Rejón C, de la Herrán R, Navajas-Pérez R (2015) The molecular cytogenetic characterization of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) suggests the arrest of recombination in the largest heteropycnotic pair HC1. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0143861. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0143861. Local copy here. This paper represents the first molecular cytogenetic characterization of the…
Banana research at the botanic garden
324. Heslop-Harrison, P. 2015. Banana research at the botanic garden. University of Leicester Botanic Garden Newsletter 12: 4. November 2015. Dessert bananas and the cooking bananas or plantains are among the oldest crops in the world. Most crops were domesticated through a long pathway of selection and crossing but, for banana, virtually all the two thousand varieties which are grown throughout the…
Repetitive DNA in eukaryotic genomes
322. Biscotti MA, Olmo E, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2015. Repetitive DNA in eukaryotic genomes. Chromosome Research 23(3): 415-420. DOI: 10.1007/s10577-015-9499-z Biscotti Repetitive DNA Author Version Link to Repetitive DNA summary Diagram Molcyt.com DNA Repetitive DNA — sequence motifs repeated hundreds or thousands of times in the genome— makes up the major proportion of all the nuclear DNA in…
Innovative science and blue-sky research
321. Braben DW, Heslop-Harrison JS and 48 others. 2015. Letter: Innovative science, Blue Sky research, scientific enterprise and prosperity. The Times (London) 23 September 2015. p. 28. (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article4564669.ece ££) The Times (London) September 23, 2015 Wednesday Edition 1; Letter on Innovative scienceSECTION: EDITORIAL; OPINION; LEADING ARTICLES; Pg. 28 Sir, “Blue sky” research is vital to scientific enterprise…
Chromosomal distribution and evolution of retrotransposons in diploid and polyploid Brachiaria forage grasses
319. Santos FC, Guyot R, Valle CB do, Chiari L, Techio VH, Heslop-Harrison P, Vanzela ALL. 2015. Chromosomal distribution and evolution of abundant retrotransposons in plants: gypsy elements in diploid and polyploid Brachiaria forage grasses. Chromosome Research 23(3): 571-582. DOI: 10.1007/s10577-015-9492-6 Text Brachiaria_Fabiola_Santos_etal AuthorVersion. Abstract: Like other eukaryotes, the nuclear genome of plants consists of DNA with…
dsRNA silencing of an R2R3-MYB transcription factor affects flower cell shape in a Dendrobium hybrid
TS. Lau S-E, Schwarzacher T, Othman RY, Harikrishna JA. 2015. dsRNA silencing of an R2R3-MYB transcription factor affects flower cell shape in a Dendrobium hybrid. BMC Plant Biology 15, no. 1: 194. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/15/194 DOI 10.1186/s12870-015-0577-3 Local copy Lau et al Dendrobium dsRNA silencing BMCPlant Biology 2015 Background: The R2R3-MYB genes regulate pigmentation and morphogenesis of flowers, including flower and cell shape,…
Molecular characterization and diversity of a novel nonautonomous Mutator-like transposon family in Brassica
320. Nouroz F, Noreen S, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2015. Molecular characterization and diversity of a novel nonautonomous Mutator-like transposon family in Brassica. Pakistani Journal of Botany 47(4): 1367-1375. Publisher abstract Publisher free full text. Local copy BrassicaMutator_Nouroz_PakistaniJBot2015 Transposable elements (TEs) are capable of mobilizing from one genomic location to other, with changes in their copy numbers. Mutator-like elements (MULEs)…
Intergeneric hybridisation between Berula erecta and Helosciadium nodiflorum (Apiaceae)
TS. Desjardins SD, Leslie AC, Stace CA, Schwarzacher T, Bailey JP. 2015. Intergeneric hybridisation between Berula erecta and Helosciadium nodiflorum (Apiaceae). Taxon 64: 784-794. DOI: 10.12705/644.9 Publisher link££ Author version Intergeneric hybridisation A hybrid between Berula erecta and Helosciadium nodiflorum is reported from Chippenham Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR), Cambridgeshire, England. Parentage was investigated using chromosome counts, a maternally-inherited chloroplast marker…
Wheat-Thinopyrum bessarabicum recombinant lines with intercalary translocations
318. Patokar C, Sepsi A, Schwarzacher T, Kishii M, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2016. Molecular cytogenetic characterization of novel wheat-Thinopyrum bessarabicum recombinant lines carrying intercalary translocations. Chromosoma 125: 163–172. 10.1007/s00412-015-0537-6 Publisher website. Version from Wheat-Thinopyrum introgression and chromosomal recombinants. Thinopyrum bessarabicum (2n=2x=14, JJ or EbEb) is a valuable source of genes for bread wheat (2n = 6x=42) improvement because…
Diversity and relationships of Crocus sativus and its relatives analysed by IRAPs
315. Alsayied N, Fernández JA, Schwarzacher T, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2015. Diversity and relationships of Crocus sativus and its relatives analysed by Inter Retroelement Amplified Polymorphism (IRAP). Annals of Botany 116(3): 359-368. doi:10.1093/aob/mcv103 Crocus IRAP Diversity Nouf AlSayied Ann Bot Author VersionoufAnnBotAuthorVersion Background and Aims: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a sterile triploid (2n=3x=24) cultivated species, of…
Molecular cytogenetics, genome evolution and agricultural genomics 