Dr Andrew Wetten

Biography

Dr. Andrew Wetten is currently working as a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading , United Kingdom. His research interests includes Plant genetic transformation: Novel applications for Agrobacterium and biolistic-mediated gene insertion into plants are being developed and molecular and cytological analyses of gene introgression and expression are conducted in transgenic and somatic hybrid plants. These procedures are being used for the elucidation of the molecular control of flower development using the model Impatiens balsamina and the control of flower initiation and fruit production in perennial plants using Fragaria vesca and monitoring alien chromosome elimination in Solanum interspecific somatic hybrids. Plant cryopreservation: Both for crop germplasm collections and species of conservation interest. Protocols are under development for the cryopreservation of cocoa germplasm in somatic embryo form and I am also involved with fundamental studies concerned with understanding the basis of cryoinjury and dehydration tolerance. Somaclonal variation: This phenomenon can undermine the genetic fidelity of tissue culture-maintained germplasm collections and so a range of molecular tools are being employed to assess the nature and frequency of novel mutations affecting somatic embryo derived cocoa.

Research Interest

Plant genetic transformation: Novel applications for Agrobacterium and biolistic-mediated gene insertion into plants are being developed and molecular and cytological analyses of gene introgression and expression are conducted in transgenic and somatic hybrid plants. These procedures are being used for the elucidation of the molecular control of flower development using the model Impatiens balsamina and the control of flower initiation and fruit production in perennial plants using Fragaria vesca and monitoring alien chromosome elimination in Solanum interspecific somatic hybrids. Plant cryopreservation: Both for crop germplasm collections and species of conservation interest. Protocols are under development for the cryopreservation of cocoa germplasm in somatic embryo form and I am also involved with fundamental studies concerned with understanding the basis of cryoinjury and dehydration tolerance. Somaclonal variation: This phenomenon can undermine the genetic fidelity of tissue culture-maintained germplasm collections and so a range of molecular tools are being employed to assess the nature and frequency of novel mutations affecting somatic embryo derived cocoa.