Associate Professor Andy Allan, PhD, BSc (Hons)

Associate Professor

Plant Molecular Science

Phone: 09-3737599 x86631
Rm 110-254
Email: a.allan@auckland.ac.nz

and
Team Leader, Colour in Plants
Plant&Food Research
120 Mt Albert Rd,
Private Bag 92169
Mt Albert, Auckland
New Zealand

phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext. 87540
Fax : +64 9 373 7417
email: a.allan@auckland.ac.nz
or
andrew.allan@plantandfood.co.nz

Research

The CHIPs lab (Colour and Health in Plants)

In the "CHIPs" Lab, we have 5 post-docs and 2 research associates, all working on aspects of fruit biology.

We have genomes (apple, peach, strawberry), expressed genes (kiwifruit, berries), greenhouses full of plants, and great people - physiologists, molecular biologists, and biochemists….all enthusiasts for plant biology!

We are funded in the FRST program, HortGenomics, with the objective of producing "Elite plants with new colour & health attributes", and in the FRST program "Pipfruit; A juicy future" which focuses on fruit quality and texture. In my lab we have the target of understanding the production of fruit health and colour compounds, such as the red anthocyanin, yellow and orange carotenoids and the green chlorophylls, as well as the colourless flavonoids. With this understanding it will be possible to develop (via breeding - usually) fruit with novel appearance, colour changes that indicate harvest and eating ripeness and healthy fruit with enhanced levels of antioxidants.

Through this research we will enhance our understanding of the biosynthesis, regulation and development of plant pigments and health compounds. We exploit whole genome sequences that are available for an increasing number of plants. Also allelic diversity found in the germplasm and breeding resources, at both the genetic and epigenetic level.

Our lab uses transformation of model plants (Arabidopsis, tobacco, strawberry) for gene function testing as well as transformation of kiwifruit, apple, and other species.

Some of our projects:

Project 1: The red fleshed Apple

We have used extremes in the germplasm to find the mutations that give apples red foliage and red flesh. This mutation results from an autoregulatory loop set up by a major gene (MYB10) gaining the ability to up-regulate itself. We have extended our knowledge of these genes into many other fruits (peaches, cherries, strawberries, bayberries, mangosteen etc).

Project 2: New Kiwifruit colours

TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION OF CAROTENOID BIOSYNTHESIS IN PLANTS

Our research group is investigating carotenoid pigment accumulation in plant flowers and fruit and how the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway is regulated by transcriptional and post-transcriptional events. We have identified two transcription factors that appear to function in regulating gene expression of carotenoid biosynthetic genes in kiwifruit.

The aim of this project is to understand how these transcription factors control carotenogenesis using model plants.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

1. Elucidate the effect of transcription factor gene expression on carotenoid accumulation in transient/stable transgenic plants (Arabidopsis & N. benthamiana) using high performance liquid chromatography systems.

2. Analyse changes in endogenous gene expression profiles in model plants expressing the transcription factor genes using Gene array and Quantitative PCR methods.

3. Investigate the changes in plastid structure during carotenogenesis using transgenic model plants expressing the transcription factor genes.

4. Understand promoter function by characterising potential cis-elements in transcription factor gene promoters using bioinformatics tools and in-planta assays.

Project 3: Genomes that we eat

Apple, strawberry and kiwifruit comparative genomics.

Students in the Fruit Genomics lab 2009/2010

Sarah Pilkington (PhD student) - Regulation of De-greening in kiwifruit in association with Professor Paula Jameson. University of Canterbury.

Brendon Swan (Masters Student) - Manipulation of polyphenolic pathways.

Graduate research projects can be carried out in my lab at Plant&Food Research or based in the SBS labs. Projects are funded by FRST. You are very welcome to make contact by email andrew.allan@plantandfood.co.nz or come and discuss graduate opportunities with me.

Selected Publications

Yin, X. Allan, A.C. Chen, K. Ferguson IB. (2010) Kiwifruit EIL and ERF genes involved in regulating fruit ripening. Plant Physiology. May 10. PMID: 20457803

Sooriyapathirana SS, Khan A, Sebolt AM, Wang D, Bushakra JM, Lin-Wang K, Allan AC, Gardiner SE, Chagné D, Iezzoni AF (2010) QTL analysis and candidate gene mapping for skin and flesh color in sweet cherry fruit (Prunus avium L.) Tree Genetics and Genomes, DOI 10.1007/s11295-010-0294-x

Lin-Wang,K., Bolitho, K., Grafton, K., Kortstee,A. McGhie,T., Espley, R.V., Hellens, R.P., Allan, AC. (2010) A R2R3 MYB transcription factor associated with regulation of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in Rosaceae BMC Plant Biology, 10:50

Niu, SS Xu, C Zhang B Li, X Lin-Wang K Ferguson, IB. Allan AC and Chen K-S Coordinated Regulation of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Chinese Bayberry (Myrica rubra) Fruit by a R2R3 MYB Transcription Factor. (2010) Planta, 231:887-899

Ampomah-Dwamena, C., McGhie, T., Wibisono,R., Montefiori,M., Hellens, R.P. and Allan A.C., (2009) The kiwifruit lycopene beta-cyclase plays a significant role in carotenoid accumulation in fruit. J. Exp. Bot. 60: 3765-3779.

Palapol, Y. Ketsa, S. Lin-Wang, K Ferguson, IB. and Allan, AC (2009) A MYB transcription factor candidate for the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) fruit during ripening, Planta 229(6):1323-1334

Rowan, D.D., Cao, M., Lin-Wang, K., Cooney, J.M., Jensen, D.J., Austin, P.T., Hunt, M.B., Norling, C., Hellens, R.P., Schaffer, R.J. and Allan, A.C. (2009) Environmental regulation of leaf colour in red 35S:PAP1 Arabidopsis thaliana, New Phytologist, 182(1):102-115.

Espley RV, Brendolise, C., Chagné D, Kutty-Amma S, Green, S., Volz R, Putterill J, Schouten HJ, Gardiner SE, Hellens RP, Allan AC (2009) Multiple Repeats of a Promoter Segment Causes Transcription Factor Autoregulation in Red Apples. The Plant Cell 21 168-183

Allan A.C. Hellens R.P., Laing W.A. (2008) MYB transcription factors which colour our fruit. Trends in Plant Science, 13, 99-102.

Chagne D, Carlisle CM, Blond C, Volz RK, Whitworth CJ, Oraguzie NC, Crowhurst RN, Allan AC, Espley RV, Hellens RP, Gardiner SE (2007). Mapping a candidate gene (MdMYB10) for red flesh and foliage colour in apple. BMC Genomics. 3, 8(1): 212.

Espley RV, Hellens RP, Putterill J, Stevenson DE, Kutty-Amma S, Allan AC (2007) Red Colouration in Apple Fruit is Due to the Activity of the MYB Transcription Factor, MdMYB10. The Plant Journal 49(3): 414-427.

Newcomb RD, Crowhurst RN, Gleave AP, Rikkerink EHA, Allan AC, Beuning LL, Bowen JH, Gera E, Jamieson KR, Janssen BJ, Laing WA, McArtney S, Nain B, Ross GS, Snowden KC, Souleyre EJF, Walton EF, Yauk Y (2006). Analyses of Expressed Sequence Tags from Apple (Malus domestica). Plant Physiology 141: 147-166.

Hellens R.P., Allan A.C., Friel E.N., Bolitho K., Grafton K., Templeton M.D., Karunairetnam S. and Laing W.A. (2005) Transient expression vectors for functional genomics, quantification of promoter activity and RNA silencing in plants. Plant Methods 1:13 (doi:10.1186/1746-4811-1-13)