Professor Jeremy Pritchard

1980 ‑ 1983  BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences, Upper Second Class (2.1) Sussex University

1984 ‑ 1988  PhD. The control of growth rate in wheat seedling roots. University of Wales.

Society Experimental Biology (SEB) Presidents Medal, Swansea 1994

Jeremy did an undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Sussex followed by a PhD in how plant roots grow at University College of North Wales, Bangor. In his research career he has worked in the US, Germany, Scotland and back in Wales on projects related to the adaptive response of plants to changing environments.

His teaching is diverse. He teaches courses about his plant research area and also leads on a range courses on evolution, ecology and field biology. Biology is an increasingly diverse subject, but the one common factor is evolution, whether it is the molecular motors that drive it, or the biodiversity that is its consequence.

By training, Jeremy is a plant physiologist, but like most biologists, the recent rise of genetic technologies has revolutionised his research, so that now he also works in the more molecular areas.

His core research is aimed at understanding how plants regulate the transport of water, sugars and salts. Like the human genome, the genetic information of many plants has been sequenced, but like humans we know very little about what the all the DNA does. To find out, we genetically modify plants to understand the function of the different genes. His work has many applications, from producing agricultural plants that are more tolerant of salt and drought, through to those that are less palatable to herbivores such as aphids.

Research Theme within School of Biosciences: Organisms and Environment

Understanding plants in changing environments

We are interested in the physiological and biochemical processes which control plant growth at both cellular and whole plant level, and how changes in the environment alter this. We are interested in how the composition of plant compartments such as the xylem and phloem are regulated.

Our interest in the phloem in particular has developed our research into the area of plant - insect interaction as model systems to study defence against herbivores and other pathogens. Sap feeding pests such as aphids are predicted to become more important as climate change accelerates so novel control methods will be needed – one strategy is to modifying phloem composition to determine its effect on aphids.

Techniques for the measurement of turgor, osmotic pressure and solutes in single cells are central. Additionally, the use of specific insects allows access to phloem (aphid stylectomy) and xylem (spittle bugs). We use molecular techniques to analyse environmentally (stress) induced changes in gene expression (RT-PCR and transcriptomics). Candidate genes are investigated using gene knockout mutants in Arabidopsis to determine the role of individual genes in a range of biotic and abiotic interactions.

We have had going collaborations with industry including Syngenta in the area of plant insect interaction and Humber VHB in projects aiming to optimise nutrient transport in greenhouse grown crops.

He is involved in the development of knowledge transfer at a national level. He chairs the Society of Experimental Biology (SEB) Education and Public Affairs Committee (EPA) and he is the BBSRC Local Outreach Co-ordinator. He speaks on outreach and PuS policy issues nationally (e.g. ASE, BSF, Wellcome Trust Science Engagement). He is a school admissions tutor for Biology and he is heavily involved in various school liaison projects that aim to address the public understanding of science and also facilitate progression across the secondary – tertiary boundary.