People
Bennett, Michael D.
| Job Title | Honorary Research Fellow |
|---|---|
| Department | Jodrell |
| Section | Honorary Research Fellow |
| Science Teams |
Monocots I: General Alismatids & Lilioids Large-Scale Syntheses |
| Joined Kew | 1987 |
| Foreign Language(s) |
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), University College of Wales Aberystwyth, 1965
PhD, University College of Wales Aberystwyth, 1968.
Order of the British Empire
Visiting Professor, School of Plant Sciences, University of Reading
Honorary Professor, School of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Wales, Cardiff (1989-2003).
Fellow of University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Chairman of Annals of Botany Company
University of Oxford Botanic Garden, Board of Visitors
Role
Research is focused on holistic genomics to improve understanding of the organisation, behaviour and evolution of genomes and their chromosomes.
Research ranged widely over plant karyogenomics since 1963. Work on nuclear DNA and angiosperms has focused on: (1) genome size evolution, (2) reproductive cell biology; (3) higher order genome organisation, and (4) biosystematics. Work at Kew aims to describe and improve understanding of the extent, nature and significance of variation in nuclear DNA amount (DNA C-value and genome size) as fundamental biodiversity characters in flowering plants and other embryophyta. It continues to explore their adaptive significance for plant distribution and behaviour, and to develop the nucleotype hypothesis as a unifying concept, testing its predictive value. The work has produced the ‘Plant DNA C-values database’, greatly improving its taxonomic, geographic and phytoformic representation. Other interests are: polyploidy and wide hybrids, and work to develop and use chromosome painting techniques as powerful tools in plant biosystematic research.
Projects
Selected Publications 2001-2005
Bennett, M.D. & Leitch, I.J. (2005). Nuclear DNA amounts in angiosperms: progress, problems and prospects. Annals of Botany 95: 45-90.
Leitch, I.J. & Bennett, M.D. (2004). Genome downsizing in polyploid plants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82: 651-633.
Bennett, M.D., Leitch, I.J., Price, H.J. & Johnston, S. (2003). Comparison with Caenorhabditis (~100 Mb) and Drosophila (~175 Mb) using flow cytometry show the Arabidopsis genome to be ~157 Mb and thus ~25% larger than the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative estimate of ~125 Mb. Annals of Botany 91: 547-557.
Soltis, D.E., Soltis, P.S., Bennett, M.D. & Leitch, I.J. (2003). Evolution of genome size in the angiosperms. American Journal of Botany 90 (11): 1596-1603.
Bennett MD, Leitch IJ. 2005. Plant DNA C-values database (Release 4.0, October 2005) http://www.kew.org/cval/homepage.html
Selected Publications pre-2001
Bennett, M.D. (1976). DNA amount, latitude and crop plant distribution. Environmental and Experimental Botany 16, 93-108.
Bennett, M.D. & Smith, J.B. (1976). Nuclear DNA amounts in Angiosperms. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B, 274, 227-274.
Bennett, M.D. (1977). The time and duration of meiosis. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B, 277, 201-226.
Bennett, S.T., Kenton, A.Y. & Bennett, M.D. (1992). Genomic in situ hybridization reveals the allopolyploid nature of Milium montianum (Gramineae). Chromosoma 101, 420-424.
Bennett, M.D, Bhandol, P. & Leitch, I.J. (2000). Nuclear DNA amounts in angiosperms and their modern uses – 807 new estimates. Annals of Botany 86: 859-909.