People
Pritchard, Hugh W.
| Job Title | Head of Research Section; Kew Senior Science Group. |
|---|---|
| Department | Seed Conservation |
| Section | Research |
| Science Teams |
Millennium Seed Bank Project Large-Scale Syntheses Monocots III: Orchids |
| Joined Kew | 1982 |
| Foreign Language(s) |
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), Biological Sciences, Univ. Leicester, 1978
PhD, Univ. East London (CNAA), 1983
Fellow of the Institute of Biology (FIBiol, 2004)
Fellow of the Linnean Society (FLS, 2006)
Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf, 2007)
Visiting Professor of Cryobiology, University of Bedfordshire, UK (2004 -)
Honorary Professor, University of Sussex (2009-) and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Institute of Botany (2008-)
Editor, Annals of Botany (1994-2001), CryoLetters (2000-), and Seed Science Research (2006-).
Founding Trustee, International Society for Seed Science
Chairman, International Seed Testing Association’s Seed Storage Committee (2007-10)
Chairman, Society for Low Temperature Biology (2008-11)
Governor, Writtle Agricultural College, partner to the University of Essex (2008-12)
Role
Management and funding of science at Wakehurst Place and Kew
Member of Kew Senior Science Group, Head of Research Section and Departmental Student Steering Committee, and project leader for the Darwin Initiative. Successful external grants / consultancy: Darwin Initiative (three since 2003, totalling >£650K); member of the International Consultation on future of CAS botanic garden. Regular reviewer of manuscripts and grants, e.g. for Defra, NRF (South Africa). Research focusing on: ecological correlates of tree seed storability, mechanisms of seed viability loss, cryopreservation, and germination modelling. Research links to >30 countries and a portfolio of over 100 papers and four books.
Projects
Darwin Initiative Research Exercise on Community Tree Seeds (DIRECTS) in Africa
Do ‘Intermediate’ Seeds Exist? Towards a Mechanistic Understanding of Cold Stress
Does One Seed Collection Represent the Genetic Diversity of a Population? A Seed Harvest Study
Ex situ Conservation of Plant Germplasm from Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Mexico
Ex Situ Conservation of Recalcitrant Seeds: Towards the Delivery of Target 8 of the GSPC
Genetic Polymorphisms in Populations of Aesculus hippocastanum across Europe
Germination Micro-Site Perception: the Role of Light Quality and Quantity
In Vitro Conservation of Bottle Palm (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (L. Bailey) H.E. Moore)
Legume Seed Collection for the Millennium Seed Bank
Maternal Environment Effects on Seed Germination and Dormancy: Inter-Site and -Season Comparisons
Millennium Seed Bank Project China Programme
Oilseeds – Biogeographical Effects on Composition in Relation to Sustainable Use
Oxidative Stress and Death Phenomena
Programmed Cell Death in Seeds
Reactive Oxygen Species as Markers of Seed Quality
Collecting and Conserving Wild Species from Malawi and Building Seed Conservation Capacity
Seed Responses to Climate Change and Environmental Extremes
Seed Viability and Ageing Defined by Glutathione Redox Potential
Theme: Climate and Reproductive Biology
Theme: Diagnosis of Viability and Germination
Theme: Ecophysiology and Morphology
Theme: Genetics and Chemical Traits
Theme: Post-Harvest Technology
Theme: Preservation Technology
Towards Universally Applicable Seed Viability Stains
Selected Recent Publications
Daws, M.I., Garwood, N.C. & Pritchard, H.W. (2005). Traits of recalcitrant seeds in a semi-deciduous tropical forest in Panama: some ecological implications. Functional Ecology 19: 874-885.
Daws, M.I., Lydall, E., Chmielarz, P., Leprince, O., Matthews, S., Thanos, C.A. & Pritchard, H.W. (2004). Developmental heat sum influences recalcitrant seed traits in Aesculus hippocastanum L. across Europe. New Phytologist 162: 157-166.
Daws, M.I., Pritchard, H.W. & Van Staden, J. (2008) Butenolide from plant-derived smoke functions as a strigolactone analogue: evidence from parasitic weed seed germination. South African Journal of Botany 74: 116-120
Pritchard, H.W., Daws, M.I., Fletcher, B.J., Gaméné, C.S., Msanga, H.P. & Omondi, W. (2004). Ecological correlates of seed desiccation tolerance in tropical African dryland trees. American Journal of Botany 96: 863-870.
Roach, T., Ivanova, M., Beckett, R.P., Minibayeva, F.V., Green, I., Pritchard, H.W., & Kranner, I. (2008) An oxidative burst of superoxide in embryonic axes of recalcitrant sweet chestnut seeds as induced by excision and desiccation. Physiolgia Plantarum 133: 131-139.
Selected Earlier Publications
Grout, B.W.W., Shelton, K. & Pritchard, H.W. (1983). Orthodox behaviour of oil palm seed and cryopreservation of the excised embryo for genetic conservation. Annals of Botany 72: 381-384.
Leprince, O., Van Aelst, A.C., Pritchard, H.W. & Murphy, D.J. (1998). Oleosins prevent oil-body coalescence during seed imbibition as suggested by a low-temperature scanning electron microscope study of desiccation-tolerant and –sensitive oilseeds. Planta 204: 109-119.
Pritchard, H.W. (1991). Water potential and embryonic axis viability in recalcitrant seeds of Quercus rubra. Annals of Botany 67: 43-49.
Pritchard, H.W. & Prendergast, F.G. (1986). Effects of desiccation and cryopreservation on the in vitro viability of embryos of the recalcitrant seed species Araucaria hunsteinii K. Schum. Journal of Experimental Botany 37, 1388-1397.
Steadman, K.J., Pritchard, H.W. & Dey, P.M. (1996). Tissue-specific soluble sugars as indicators of seed storage category. Annals of Botany 77, 667-674.
