Kelly Gillespie
Dept. of Energy Graduate Research Fellow
GEGC-IGB and Physiological and Molecular Plant Biology
1201 West Gregory Drive
147 ERML
MC-051
Urbana, IL
(217) 265-9887
kramig@life.uiuc.edu
Education
- B.A. - Knox College, Galesburg, IL 06/2004
Major: Biology
Graduated Cum Laude with Academic Honors in Biology - Ph.D. - University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign expected 06/2009
UIUC Program: Physiological and Molecular Plant Biology
DOE Global Climate Change Education Program Graduate Research Fellow
Ph.D. Thesis Reseach
- Develop and test high-throughput tools that will facilitate the investigation of integrated antioxidant system responses at the metabolite, enzyme, and transcription level.
- Utilize these tools to characterize how the soybean antioxidant system is regulated under expected climate changes in open-field conditions.
- Determine if low levels of chronic O3 stress alter the regulation of the antioxidant system across plant growth and leaf development.
- Determine the status of the antioxidant system of plants grown at elevated CO2 and O3 and assess the mechanism behind ozone tolerance or susceptibility when grown at elevated CO2.
Previous Reseach
- 2004 Lab Rotation Project: Collected and analyzed gas exchange data on cold and warm grown maize and Miscanthus in order to solidify the background research for investigating cold tolerance in C4 plants.
- Knox College Honors Thesis Project: Collected soybean leaf samples from across the 2003 growing season at the SOYFACE field research site at University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Analyzed leaf samples for Rubisco content as a partial measure of photosynthetic capacityof leaves under elevated [CO2], elevated [O3], and a combination of both.
- Oak Ridge National Lab Science Semester Project: Extracted DNA from leaf samples taken from a genetic backcross pedigree of poplar and amplified specific microsatellite markers within the individuals and analyzed genetic segregation for an eventual dense genetic linkage map.http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/oakridge/posters/fall2003
Publications
Estimation of total phenolic content and other oxidation substrates in plant tissues using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Nature Protocols, 2: 875-877
This protocol describes a microplate-adapted colorimetric total phenlics assay that uses Folin-Ciocalteu (F-C) reagent. The F-C assay relies on the transfer of electrons in alkaline medium from phenolic compounds to phosphomolybdic/phosphotungstic acid complexes, which are measured at 765 nm.
Measurement of reduced, oxidized and total ascorbate content in plants . Nature Protocols, 2: 871-874
This protocol describes a microplate-adapted colorimetric ascorbate assay, in which ferric ion is reduced by ascorbate to ferrous ion. The ferrous ion reactions with a-a-bipyridl to form a complex with characteristic absorbance at 525 nm.
Rapid measurement of total antioxidant capacity in plants . Nature Protocols, 2: 867-870.
This protocol describes the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, which measures antioxidant inhibition of peroxyl radical-induced oxidations and provides a measure of total antioxidant capacity.
Hourly and seasonal variation in photosynthesis and stomatal conducantce of soybean grown at future CO2 and ozone concentrations for 3 years under fully open-air field conditions . Plant Cell and Environment, 29: 2077-2090.
Controlled environment studies indicated a stimulation of plant growth at elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide and a reduction of plant growth at elevated concentrations of ozone. However, the silultaneous effects of both increases on a major crop under fully open-air conditions had never been tested. Over three consecutive growing seasons, >4700 individual measurements of different photosynthetic parameters were collected on soybean using FACE technology and the effects of both elevated carbon dioxide and elevated ozone on these parameters are reported.