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Dr David P. Dixon

Member of the Biophysical Sciences Institute

Research Interests

I am interested in plant glutathione transferases (GSTs) - a large gene family with diverse but mostly poorly understood roles. Previous work involved biochemically characterising family members that play a major role in herbicide resistance, and led to the engineering of very efficient herbicide-detoxifying catalysts through directed evolution. Parallel work showed that certain GST family members were important for recycling ascorbic acid, and for the catabolism of tyrosine. GST induction is often a marker for plant stress, both biotic and abiotic, and it is likely that at least some GST family members are involved in responding to, or perceiving, conditions that impart this stress. Therefore, current work now aims to further characterise these endogenous roles of plant GSTs, utilising genetics, biochemistry, proteomics and metabolomics.

Publications

Book chapters: online

Dixon, D. P. & Edwards, R. (2010). Glutathione Transferases. In The Arabidopsis Book. The American Society of Plant Biologists. 1-15.

Books: sections

Edwards, R., Dixon, D. P., Cummins, I., Brazier-Hicks, M. & Skipsey, M. (2010). New perspectives on the metabolism and detoxification of synthetic compounds in plants. In Organic Xenobiotics and Plants: From Mode of Action to Ecophysiology. Schröder, P. & Collins, C. D. Springer. 125-148.
Edwards,R. & Dixon,D.P. (2004). Metabolism of natural and xenobiotic substrates by the plant glutathione S-transferase family. In Molecular Ecotoxicology of Plants (Ecological Studies, vol. 170). Sandermann, H. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 170: 17-50.

Journal papers: academic

Cummins, I., Dixon, D. P., Freitag-Pohl, S., Skipsey, M. & Edwards, R. (2011). Multiple roles for plant glutathione transferases in xenobiotic detoxification. Drug Metabolism Reviews 43(2): 266-280.
Dixon, D. P., Steel, P. G. & Edwards, R. (2011). Roles for glutathione transferases in antioxidant recycling. Plant Signaling & Behavior 6(8): 1223-1227.
Dixon, D. P. , Sellars, J. D. & Edwards, R. (2011). The Arabidopsis phi class glutathione transferase AtGSTF2: binding and regulation by biologically active heterocyclic ligands. Biochemical Journal 438(1): 63-70.
Skipsey, M., Knight, K. M., Brazier-Hicks, M., Dixon, D. P., Steel, P. G. & Edwards, R. (2011). Xenobiotic responsiveness of Arabidopsis thaliana to a chemical series derived from a herbicide safener. Journal of Biological Chemistry 286(37): 32268-32276.
Sellars, J. D., Landrum, M., Congreve, A., Dixon, D. P., Mosely, J. A. , Beeby, A. , Edwards, R. & Steel, P. G. (2010). Fluorescence quenched quinone methide based activity probes - a cautionary tale. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry 8: 1610-1618.
Dixon, D. P., Skipsey, M. & Edwards, R. (2010). Roles for glutathione transferases in plant secondary metabolism. Phytochemistry 71: 338-350.
Dixon, D. P. & Edwards, R. (2010). Roles for stress-inducible lambda glutathione transferases in flavonoid metabolism in plants as identified by ligand fishing. Journal of Biological Chemistry 285(47): 36322-36329.
Watson, H. R., Apperley, D. C., Dixon, D. P., Edwards, R. & Hodgson, D. R. W. (2009). An Efficient Method for ¹⁵N-Labeling of Chitin in Fungi. Biomacromolecules 10(4): 793-797.
Dixon, D. P., Hawkins, T., Hussey, P. J. & Edwards, R. (2009). Enzyme activities and subcellular localization of members of the Arabidopsis glutathione transferase superfamily. Journal of Experimental Botany 60(4): 1207-1218.
Dixon, D. P. & Edwards, R. (2009). Selective binding of glutathione conjugates of fatty acid derivatives by plant glutathione transferases. Journal of Biological Chemistry 284(32): 21249-21256.
Dixon, D. P., Lapthorn, A., Madesis, P., Mudd, E. A., Day, A. & Edwards, R. (2008). Binding and glutathione conjugation of porphyrinogens by plant glutathione transferases. Journal of Biological Chemistry 283(29): 20268-20276.
Ülker, Bekir, Peiter, Edgar, Dixon, David P., Moffat, Caroline, Capper, Richard, Bouché, Nicolas, Edwards, Robert, Sanders, Dale, Knight, Heather & Knight, Marc R. (2008). Getting the most out of publicly available T-DNA insertion lines. The Plant Journal 56(4): 665-667.
Bryant, D., Cummins, I., Dixon, D. P. & Edwards, R. (2006). Cloning and characterization of a theta class glutathione transferase from the potato pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Phytochemistry 67(14): 1427-1434.
Dixon, D.P. & Edwards, R. (2006). Enzymes of tyrosine catabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Science 171(3): 360-366.
Edwards, R., Brazier-Hicks, M., Dixon, D.P. & Cummins, I. (2005). Chemical manipulation of antioxidant defences in plants. Advances in Botanical Research 42: 1-32.
Edwards,R., Del Buono,D., Fordham,M., Skipsey,M., Brazier,M., Dixon,D.P. & Cummins,I. (2005). Differential induction of glutathione transferases and glucosyltransferases in wheat, maize and Arabidopsis thaliana by herbicide safeners. Zeitschrift für Natursforschung c 60: 307-316.
Chang,H.-Y., Smertenko,A.P., Igarashi,H., Dixon,D.P. & Hussey,P.J. (2005). Dynamic interaction of NtMAP65-1a with microtubules in vivo. Journal of Cell Science 118(14): 3195-3201.
Edwards, R. & Dixon, D.P. (2005). Plant glutathione transferases. 401: 169-186.
Dixon,D.P., Fordham-Skelton,A.P. & Edwards,R. (2005). Redox regulation of a soybean tyrosine-specific protein phosphatase. Biochemistry 44(21): 7696-7703.
Dixon,D.P., Skipsey,M., Grundy,N.M. & Edwards,R. (2005). Stress-induced protein S-glutathionylation in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology 138(4): 2233-2244.
Dixon,D.P., Lapthorn,A. & Edwards,R. (2005). Synthesis and analysis of chimeric maize glutathione transferases. Plant Science 168(4): 873-881.
Dixon,D.P., van Lith,M., Edwards,R. & Benham,A. (2003). Cloning and initial characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana endoplasmic reticulum oxidoreductins. Antioxidants and Redox Signaling 5(4): 389-396.
Dixon,D.P., McEwen,A.G., Lapthorn,A.J. & Edwards,R. (2003). Forced evolution of a herbicide detoxifying glutathione transferase. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278(26): 23930-23935.
Loutre,C., Dixon,D.P., Brazier,M., Slater,M., Cole,D.J. & Edwards,R. (2003). Isolation of a glucosyltransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana active in the metabolism of the persistent pollutant 3,4-dichloroaniline. The Plant Journal 34(4): 485-493.
Dixon, D.P., Davis, B.G. & Edwards, R. (2002). Functional divergence in the glutathione transferase super-family in plants: Identification of two classes with putative functions in redox homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Biological Chemistry 277(34): 30859-30869.
DeRidder,B.P., Dixon,D.P., Beussman,D.J., Edwards,R. & Goldsbrough,P.B. (2002). Induction of glutathione S-transferases in Arabidopsis by herbicide safeners. Plant Physiology 130(3): 1497-1505.
Dixon, D.P., Lapthorn, A. & Edwards, R. (2002). Plant glutathione transferases. Genome Biology 3: reviews3004.1-3004.10.
Wagner, U., Edwards, R., Dixon, D.P. & Mauch, F. (2002). Probing the diversity of the Arabidopsis glutathione S-transferase gene family. Plant Molecular biology 49: 515-532.
Thom, R., Cummins, I., Dixon, D.P., Edwards, R., Cole, D.J. & Lapthorn, A.J. (2002). Structure of a tau class glutathione S-transferase from wheat active in herbicide detoxification. Biochemistry 41(22): 7008-7020.
Dixon, D.P., Cole, D.J. & Edwards, R. (2001). Cloning and characterisation of plant theta and zeta class GSTs: Implications for plant GST classification. Chemico-Biological Interactions 133: 33-36.
Dixon, D.P., Cole, D.J. & Edwards, R. (2001). Probing plant GST activity using heterodimers and domain swapping. Chemico-Biological Interactions 133: 37-39.
Thom, R., Dixon, D.P., Edwards, R., Cole, D. & Lapthorn, A. (2001). Structure determination of zeta class glutathione tranferase from Arabidopsis thaliana. Chemico-Biological Interactions 133: 53-54.
Thom, R., Dixon, D.P., Edwards, R., Cole, D. & Lapthorn, A. (2001). The structure of a zeta class glutathione S-transferase from Arabidopsis thaliana: Characterisation of a GST with novel active-site architecture and a putative role in tyrosine catabolism. Journal of Molecular Biology 308(5): 949-962.
Dixon, DP, Cole, DJ & Edwards, R (2000). Characterisation of a zeta class glutathione transferase from Arabidopsis thaliana with a putative role in tyrosine catabolism. Archives Of Biochemistry And Biophysics 384(2): 407-412.
Edwards, R, Dixon, DP & Walbot, V (2000). Plant glutathione S-transferases: enzymes with multiple functions in sickness and in health. Trends In Plant Science 5(5): 193-198.
Dixon, DP, Cole, DJ & Edwards, R (1999). Dimerisation of maize glutathione transferases in recombinant bacteria. Plant Molecular Biology 40(6): 997-1008.
Dixon, DP, Cummins, I, Cole, DJ & Edwards, R (1998). Glutathione-mediated detoxification systems in plants. Current Opinion In Plant Biology 1(3): 258-266.
Cole, DJ, Dixon, DP, Cummins, I & Edwards, R (1998). Identification and characterisation of tau class glutathione transferases in maize and wheat responsible for herbicide detoxification. Abstracts Of Papers Of The American Chemical Society 216(1): 95-agro.
Dixon, DP, Cole, DJ & Edwards, R (1998). Purification, regulation and cloning of a glutathione transferase (GST) from maize resembling the auxin-inducible type-III GSTs. Plant Molecular Biology 36(1): 75-87.
Dixon, D, Cole, DJ & Edwards, R (1997). Characterisation of multiple glutathione transferases containing the GST I subunit with activities toward herbicide substrates in maize (Zea mays). Pesticide Science 50(1): 72-82.
Dixon, DP, Cole, DJ & Edwards, R (1997). Characterization and regulation of multiple glutathione transferases in corn (Zea mays). Plant Physiology 114(3): 746.
Hatton, PJ, Dixon, D, Cole, DJ & Edwards, R (1996). Glutathione transferase activities and herbicide selectivity in maize and associated weed species. Pesticide Science 46(3): 267-275.