Rod Scott

Biography

Rod Scott is a professor belongs to the department of Biology & Biochemistry from the university of Bath.

Research Interest

Novel plant glycoside hydrolases for bioethanol production Successful plant reproduction is essential for food production. The stationary lifestyle of plants means that mobile pollen is vital for fertilisation. Since plant cells are usually firmly fused together in tissues, pollen production requires radical modification of normal cell division. This is achieved by replacing cellulose with callose as the cell wall material laid-down after meiosis forms the young pollen grains. Enzymes produced by the surrounding anther tissues then dissolve the callose, releasing the pollen. We are identifing the genes encoding these enzymes for evaluation in the creation of auto-digesting transgenic plants for bioethanol production. Algae biotechnology Single-celled, or microalgae, are a diverse group of species with many potential commercial applications including the production of biofuels, pigments, protein for animal feed and industrial feedstocks. Their large-scale culture could also help capture harmful CO2 to combat climate change and to clean wastewater reducing environmental damage from sewage treatment. Before algae can realize this potential a number of technical challenges must be overcome to bring down the cost of production to levels competitive with existing and well-established alternatives. These include thermo-tolerance, increased photosynthetic efficiency and reduced harvesting and product recovery costs. Several research projects in the lab focus on addressing these challenges.