Carl Ng
2021; Wiley; Volume: 230; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Tagalog
10.1111/nph.17203
ISSN1469-8137
Tópico(s)Allelopathy and phytotoxic interactions
ResumoNew PhytologistVolume 230, Issue 3 p. 902-903 ProfileFree Access Carl Ng First published: 31 March 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17203AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat What inspired your interest in plant science? I grew up in the Republic of Singapore, an island city state that is also known as the Garden City. Growing up, my only exposure to plants was helping my mother to water the plants that she grew in pots along the common corridor of our public housing flat. It was a mish-mash of plants, ranging from the medicinal herb Hedyotis diffusa, to promegranate, and a variety of Dendrobium orchids. Little did I know back then that I would eventually conduct research on the responses of plants to abiotic stresses. I did not set out to be a plant scientist at university. In fact, I wanted to study psychology as an undergraduate. At that time, my sister was reading psychology and social work at university, and I decided that it was not a good idea to have two psychologists in the family as we would be constantly psychoanalysing each other! I settled on biology and eventually on plant science when my undergraduate courses showed me the importance of plants, their roles in ecosystems, and how, as sessile organisms, they are able to deal with a myriad environmental changes during the course of a day and thrive. My plant science lecturers were inspiring and I vividly recall a fantastic time spent during a week-long undergraduate field course in the tropical rainforest (Endau Rompin) in Malaysia. It was there that I saw for the first time, fireflies lighting up the trees, and also encountered not-so-friendly blood-sucking leeches. My undergraduate research project cemented my interest in plant science, where I discovered the joys of plant science research and the ability to contribute to new knowledge and understanding. Why did you decide to pursue a career in research? I attribute my decision to pursue a career in research to great mentors and lectures. My undergraduate project mentor, Prof. Choy Sin Hew, was the one who piqued my interest in plant science research. The research was on photosynthesis in the orchid Oncidium goldiana (or Dancing Lady), and I then followed up on carbohydrate partitioning during my MSc research, also under the mentorship of Prof. Hew. I was able to work independently and was given free rein to conduct my research albeit with guidance when required. I realized that I was not just simply another pair of hands following instructions; I was able to formulate hypotheses, as well as designing and conducting the experiments to test the hypotheses. I also managed to publish the research from my undergraduate and MSc research. It was then that I was hooked, cementing my determination to pursue a PhD and career in research. What motivates you on a day-to-day basis? A quote from the 1994 film Forrest Gump, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get’, sums it up. You never know what you’re going to get on a day-to-day basis. It could be a great set of results from the lab, the dreaded manuscript rejection, students needing guidance, contributing to the development of the next generation of scientists, interacting with colleagues and exchanging ideas, brainstorming, funding application submission deadlines … the list goes on. Most importantly, the ability to make a difference in the lives of my students is what motivates me. Is there anyone that you consider to be a role model? My mentors and supervisors during the different phases of my career. I would like to highlight my undergraduate and MSc supervisor, Prof. Choy Sin Hew, who inspired my love for orchids and for giving me the opportunities to develop my independence. I am grateful to my PhD supervisors, Profs Alistair Hetherington and Martin McAinsh, exceptional mentors and scientists who are enthusiastic, encouraging, and positive. They gave me the opportunity, the environment and tools, and the freedom to carry out the research with integrity and rigour. I recall with fondness the laboratory back in 1997–2001, where we managed to overcome the substantial damage to the lab and consequent delay to the research programme from a burst overhead water pipe, to the weekly lab meetings, the Friday evening pints in the pub, and the celebration of every paper published. I am also grateful to my postdoc mentor, Prof. Sally Assmann, for her invaluable advice as I embarked on the next phase of my career as an independent principal investigator. What are your favourite New Phytologist papers of recent years, and why? I enjoy reading the New Phytologist Tansley reviews and Tansley insights. The Tansley reviews are authoritative with broad perspectives, while the Tansley insights are shorter, focused articles highlighting the latest developments in areas of interest. These commissioned articles allow me to keep abreast of the latest developments not just in my area of research but also other interesting topics. I enjoyed reading the Tansley review by McKown & Bergmann (2020), where they highlighted the current understanding of the genetic regulators underlying stomatal development in grasses in the context of knowledge from dicots, and the potential importance of knowledge gain for informing crop improvement strategies. The Tansley insight by Pedersen et al. (2020) on recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying aerenchyma formation and root architectural changes as a result of waterlogging (or low oxygen availability) was informative and relevant to my ongoing research in waterlogging responses in winter barley. I want to also highlight a recent research paper by Calderini et al. (2021), who showed very nicely that targeted expression of an α-expansin gene in developing seeds of wheat can lead to a significant increase in grain size minus the negative effect on grain number, proving that the tradeoff between grain weight and grain number can be overcome, resulting in potential yield improvements. What is your favourite plant, and why? My favourite plant is the orchid, Brassavola nodosa (Fig. 1), also known as Lady of the Night, because it emits a lovely fragrance in the evening. In addition, the flowers have a lovely flowing form, consisting of five thin tepals with a wide lip. Night pollinating moths are attracted to the scent emitted by B. nodosa. It was named by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown (1773–1842) after the Italian physician and botanist, Antonio Musa Brassavola (1500–1555). You may wonder why I have not listed the plants I work with on a daily basis as my favourites. The answer is quite simple, really. Except for the control plants, they tend to end up dead (from abiotic stress)! Fig. 1Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Flowers of the orchid Brassavola nodosa, also known as Lady of the Night, showing the beautiful and elegant flowing form comprising five thin tepals with a white lip. Box Carl received a BSc (Hons) in botany (1995) and MSc in orchid physiology (1997) from the National University of Singapore (Republic of Singapore) under the supervision of Choy Sin Hew. In 1997, he joined the laboratory of Alistair Hetherington and Martin McAinsh at Lancaster University (UK) to pursue his PhD research on stomatal guard cell signalling, focusing on the role of sphingolipids as calcium-mobilizing second messengers, graduating in 2001. He then joined the laboratory of Sally Assmann as a postdoctoral fellow at Pennsylvania State University (USA), studying the role of abscisic acid in inducing subnuclear organization of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins in stomatal guard cells. In 2002, Carl joined University College Dublin (UCD, Republic of Ireland) as a Lecturer in Plant Cell Biology, where he is currently an Associate Professor and Head of Plant Biology at the School of Biology and Environmental Science. At UCD, Carl’s research programme is aimed at understanding plant response to abiotic stresses using a variety of model plants, including Arabidopsis thaliana, Physcomitrella patens, Brachypodium distachyon and crop species like rice, barley and perennial ryegrass. Carl contributes actively to teaching undergraduate and postgraduate classes in cell biology and genetics, plant cell and molecular biology, and cell signalling. Carl joined New Phytologist as a member of the Advisory Board in 2018 and became an Associate Editor in 2020. For more information on Carl, visit https://people.ucd.ie/carl.ng, or contact him by email at carl.ng@ucd.ie. ORCID: Carl Ng https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5832-3265 References Calderini DF, Castillo FM, Arenas-M A, Molero G, Reynolds MP, Craze M, Bowden S, Milner MJ, Wallington EJ, Dowie A et al. 2021. Overcoming the trade-off between grain weight and grain number in wheat by ectopic expression of expansin in developing seeds leads to increase in yield potential. New Phytologist 230: 629– 640. Wiley Online LibraryPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar McKown KH, Bergmann DC. 2020. Stomatal development in the grasses: lessons from models and crops (and crop models). New Phytologist 227: 1636– 1648. Wiley Online LibraryPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Pedersen O, Sauter M, Colmer TD, Nakazono M. 2020. Regulation of root adaptive anatomical and morphological traits during low soil oxygen. New Phytologist 229: 42– 49. Wiley Online LibraryPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Volume230, Issue3May 2021Pages 902-903 FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation
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