Professor Philip Poole
Research Chair in Plant Microbiology at the University of Oxford and Sir Walter Murdoch Adjunct
Professor will be presenting a seminar entitled:
“Nitrogen and humanity, the limits of civilization and challenge to science”
Tuesday 16th December 4.00 pm - 5.30 pm
Loneragan Building Lecture Theatre (LBLT)
Murdoch University
All are welcome to attend
Synopsis
Nitrogen is the principal nutrient limiting life in the biosphere and agricultural productivity so its
addition in farming is essential for high crop yields. In a world where population growth has made
food security an international priority, crop yield is of critical importance. However, the drive for
yield alone has led to very high application of nitrogen, typically as nitrate, ammonia or urea, leading
to substantial nitrate contamination of groundwater and eutrophication of rivers, lakes and
estuaries, threatening the health of humans, livestock, and fisheries. The problem is so serious that
reactive nitrogen in the biosphere has doubled from pre-industrial levels, primarily through massive
inputs into agriculture, and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones now cover key parts of Western Europe and
North America. One of these reactive nitrogen compounds, nitrous oxide, is around 300-times more
potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas and its atmospheric concentration continues to rise each year.
These are problems of regional, national and international scope that require urgent attention and
are at the forefront of the grand challenges for local and global science. An alternative to added
nitrogenous fertilizer is biological nitrogen fixation from legumes. Understanding the biochemistry
and genetics of how bacteria, called rhizobia, infect legumes to induce formation of N2-fixaing
nodules is a focus of our group. How we might deploy them more effectively to help ameliorate the
nitrogen crisis will be discussed.
About Phil Poole
Phil Poole is originally from Perth, completing his PhD at Murdoch in 1986, but he slipped up while
on the typical Aussie tour of Europe by staying to do post-doctoral work in the Biochemistry
Department at Oxford. From there he moved to Reading in 1990 where he started his own group
studying the physiology and genetics of the root nodule bacteria. From 2007-2013, Phil was a Project
Leader at the John Innes Centre and is now Professor of Plant Microbiology at the University of
Oxford. Phil’s current research interests are in the physiology and biochemistry of nitrogen fixation
in legume nodules and in the growth and survival of root nodule bacteria in the rhizosphere. Most
recently, Phil’s group has developed methods to study how root nodule bacteria attach to and
colonise roots, which has opened up the whole area of how plants control the root microbiome.
For more information on Phil’s research, please follow this link:
http://www.plants.ox.ac.uk/plants/staff/PhilPoole.aspx