Dr Kevin Oxborough

Chief Research Officer,
Dept. Biological Sciences,
University of Essex
CO4 3SQ

Phone: +44 (0)1206 872911
email: koxbor (@essex.ac.uk)

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Research interests:

1. The light reactions of oxygenic photosynthesis
2. Photoinactivation of photosystem II
3. The development of instrumentation and methods for probing 1 and 2, within plants and algae

Active projects:

CCD-based spectrometry
The development of CCD-based spectrometer systems for use in a range of biomedical and biophysical applications – in cooperation with Cooper

Culturing systems for microalgae and other microorganisms
The development of automated systems for the culturing of microalgae and other microorganisms – involving the control of pH, turbidity and light regimes. This work is funded by two NERC grants (NER/A/S/2003/00441 and NER/B/S/2003/00182) to Geider (PI) and others

Imaging chlorophyll a fluorescence
The development and application of new technologies and methods for imaging chlorophyll a fluorescence at all spatial levels. This is an ongoing development program that, in previous years, has received funding through BBSRC and NERC grants to Baker, Morison, Underwood, Geider and Oxborough, plus additional funding from the University of Illinois and the University of Essex

A number of computer programs are being developed in support of these projects. Click here for details

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Career resumé

(1999 - current)
Chief Research Officer within the Dept. of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex

(1994 - 1999)
Senior Research Officer within the Dept. of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex

(1988-1994)
Research Scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

(1984-1987)
Graduate student within the Dept. of Biochemistry at the University of Sheffield

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Publications

2001 - current
1991 - 2000
1987 - 1999

2001 - current

Oxborough K (2005) Using chlorophyll a fluorescence imaging to monitor photosynthetic performance. Chlorophyll a fluorescence – A signature of photosynthesis. Papageorgiou GC and Govindjee (eds.) Springer: 409-428

Baker NR & Oxborough K (2005) Chlorophyll fluorescence as a probe of photosynthetic productivity. Chlorophyll a fluorescence – A signature of photosynthesis. Papageorgiou GC and Govindjee (eds.) Springer: 65-82

Oxborough K (2004) Imaging of chlorophyll a fluorescence: theoretical and practical aspects of an emerging technique for the monitoring of photosynthetic performance. Journal of Experimental Botany 55: 1195-1205

von Caemmerer S, Lawson T, Oxborough K, Baker NR, Andrews TJ, Raines CA (2004) Stomatal conductance does not correlate with photosynthetic capacity in transgenic tobacco with reduced amounts of Rubisco. Journal of Experimental Botany 55: 1157-1166

Barbagallo RP, Oxborough K, Pallett KE, Baker NR (2003) Rapid, noninvasive screening for perturbations of metabolism and plant growth using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging Plant Physiology 132: 485-493

Lawson T, Oxborough K, Morison JIL, Baker NR (2003) The responses of guard and mesophyll cell photosynthesis to CO2, O2, light, and water stress in a range of species are similar. Journal of Experimental Botany 54: 1743-1752

Fryer MJ, Ball L, Oxborough K, Karpinski S, Mullineaux PM, Baker NR (2003) Control of Ascorbate Peroxidase 2 expression by hydrogen peroxide and leaf water status during excess light stress reveals a functional organisation of Arabidopsis leaves. Plant Journal 33: 691-705

Mason CF, Underwood GJC, Baker NR, Davey PA, Davidson I, Hanlon A, Long SP, Oxborough K, Paterson DM & Watson A (2003) The role of herbicides in the erosion of salt marshes in eastern England. Environmental Pollution 122: 41-49

Lawson T, Oxborough K, Morison JIL & Baker NR (2002) Responses of photosynthetic electron transport in stomatal guard cells and mesophyll cells in intact leaves to light, CO2 and humidity. Plant Physiology 128: 1-11

Fryer MJ, Oxborough K, Mullineaux PM & Baker NR (2002) Imaging of photo-oxidative stress responses in leaves Journal of Experimental Botany 53: 1249-1254

Perkins RG, Oxborough K, Hanlon ARM, Underwood GJC & Baker NR (2002) Can chlorophyll fluorescence be used to estimate the rate of photosynthetic electron transport within microphytobenthic biofilms? Marine Ecology Progress Series 228: 47-56

Zanger AR, Hamilton JG, Miller TJ, Crofts AR, Oxborough K, Berenbaum MR & de Lucia EH (2002) Impact of folivory on photosynthesis is greater than the sum of its holes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the Unites States of America 99: 1088-1091

Baker NR, Oxborough K, Lawson T & Morison JIL (2002) High resolution imaging of photosynthetic activities of tissues, cells and chloroplasts in leaves. Journal of Experimental Botany 52: 615-621

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1991 - 2000

Oxborough K & Baker NR (2000) An evaluation of the potential triggers of photoinactivation of photosystem II in the context of a Stern-Volmer model for down-regulation and the reversible radical pair equilibrium model Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 355: 1489-1498

Oxborough K, Hanlon ARM, Underwood G & Baker NR (2000) In situ measurement of photosynthetic performance of individual microphytobenthic cells using high-resolution imaging of chlorophyll a fluorescence. Limnology & Oceanography 45:1420-1425

Fryer MJ, Andrews JR, Oxborough K, Blowers DA & Baker NR (1998) Relationship between CO2 assimilation, photosynthetic electron transport and active O2 metabolism in leaves of maize in the field during periods of low temperature. Plant Physiol. 116: 571-580

James EK, Minchin FR, Oxborough K, Cookson A, Baker NR, Witty JF, Crawford RMM & Sprent JI (1998) Photosynthetic oxygen evolution within Sesbania rostrata stem nodules. The Plant J. 13(1): 29-38

Oxborough K & Baker NR (1997a) An instrument capable of imaging chlorophyll a fluorescence from intact leaves at very low irradiance and at the cellular and sub-cellular levels of organisation. Plant Cell and Environ. 20: 1473-1483

Oxborough K & Baker NR (1997b) Resolving chlorophyll a fluorescence images of photosynthetic efficiency into photochemical and non-photochemical components - calculation of qP and Fv'/Fm' without measuring Fo'. Photosynth. Res. 54: 135-142

Oxborough K, Nedbal L, Chylla RA & Whitmarsh J (1996) Light-dependent modification of photosystem II in spinach leaves. Photosynth. Res. 48: 247-254

Oxborough K & Ort DR (1995) In situ evidence that chilling in the light does not cause uncoupling of photophosphorylation or detachment of coupling factor in chilling-sensitive plants. Photosynth. Res. 43: 93-105

Fryer MJ, Oxborough K, Martin B, Ort DR & Baker NR (1995) Factors associated with depression of photosynthetic quantum efficiency in maize at low growth temperature. Plant Physiol.108: 761-767

Ort DR, Oxborough K & Wise RR (1994) Depressions of photosynthesis in crops with water defecits. Photoinhibition of photosynthesis - from molecular mechanisms to the field. Bowyer, J. and Baker, N.R. (eds) Bios Scientific Publishers: 315 - 330.

Ort DR & Oxborough K (1992) In situ regulation of chloroplast coupling factor activity. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 43: 269-291
Horton P, Crofts J, Gordon K, Oxborough K, Rees D & Scholes JD (1989) Regulation of photosystem II by metabolic and environmental factors. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 323: 269-279

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1987 - 1990

Oxborough K & Horton P (1987) Regulation of thylakoid protein phosphorylation by high energy state quenching. FEBS Lett. 221: 211-214

Oxborough K & Horton P (1987) Characterization of the effects of antimycin A upon high energy state quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence (qE) in spinach and pea chloroplasts. Photosynth. Res. 12: 119-128

Oxborough K & Horton P (1987) Inhibition of high energy state quenching in spinach chloroplasts by low concentrations of antimycin A. Progress in Photosynth. Res. II(7): 489-492 Biggins, J. (ed) Martinus Nijhoff, Dortrecht.