Alex Webb

Alex A.R. Webb is a plant biologist whose computational, genetic, and physiological studies center around plant chronobiology. He currently serves as the head of the Circadian Signal Transduction Group in the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences researching circadian pathways and what regulates them.

Education Webb obtained his Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Stirling in Scotland between 1984 and 1988. Following this, from 1989 to 1992, he received a PhD in plant molecular biology from Lancaster University.

Research positions Between 1992 and 1998, Webb continued as a postdoctoral research associate at Lancaster University. Specifically, his early research demonstrates that plants' circadian rhythms control the daily opening of the stomata and nightly closing of the stomata through control by the circadian oscillator gene TOC1. Later research performed at Webb's lab revealed that circadian oscillations of calcium occur due to the circadian regulation of cyclic ADPR. His research has also shown PRR7 mutations affect the plasticity of the clock, which is the ability to respond to environmental signals such as light and temperature that set the pace of the clock.

"Chronoculture" Webb's scientific research has led to the discovery that plants' circadian clocks allow them to anticipate and synchronize their growth and development to the time of day or year. Webb's lab also works with wheat to determine how different traits are affected if they disrupt the circadian clock.

Professor Malcolm Bennett from the University of Nottingham Professor Gilliham from the University of Adelaide Professor Jorge Goncalves from the University of Luxembourg Dr. Akiko Satake from Kyushu University Dr. Phil Wigge from the University of Potsdam, Germany

Additionally, his lab collaborates with individuals from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany and BASF in Ghent, Belgium.

Webb is also listed as a recurring co-author with the following scientists, some of whom were his mentees:

Antony Dodd Michael J. Haydon John Love