I am the programme leader for crop molecular physiology within NIAB's Cambridge Crop Sciences unit and the Janet Harker Official Fellow in Biological Sciences at Girton College, Cambridge.
Research interests
I am interested in understanding how plants integrate and respond to different environmental conditions such as nutrient availability and the presence of neighbour (e.g. black-grass). My research aims to provide useful information for the development of crop varieties that can produce high yield with lower herbicide and fertiliser inputs.
Research projects
MillNETi - Millets and Nutritional Enhancement Traits for Iron bioavailability
Duration: April 2019- March 2021
Partners: University of Cambridge (Plant Sciences, Development Studies, Pathology, Politics and International studies), NIAB (Genetics & Breeding), MRC Unit The Gambia, Rothamsted Research
Funding: BBSRC (BB/S013954/1)
Team members
- Alek Ligeza (part time team member)
- Nick Fradgley
Past team members
- Anya Heathcote (2020-2021, Year in Industry student from University of Nottingham)
- Vijay Rajamanickam (2020-2021, Newton Bhabha Fellow, PhD Placement Programme)
- Violette Pepper (2020, Summer student funded through the Genetics Society)
Recent publications
Fradgley NS, Bentley AR, Swarbreck SM (2021) Defining the physiological determinants of low nitrogen requirement in wheat. Biochemical Society Transactions. BST20200282.
Swarbreck SM (2021) Phytohormones Interplay: Karrikin signalling promotes ethylene synthesis to modulate roots. Trends in Plant Science, 26(4):308-311.
Swarbreck SM, Mohammad-Sidik A, Davies JM (2020) Common components of the strigolactone and karrikin signaling pathways suppress root branching in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology, 184:18-22
Bandyopadhyay T, Swarbreck SM, Jaiswal V, Gupta R, Bentley AR, Griffiths H, Prasad M (2020) Grain number and genotype drive nitrogen-dependent yield response in the C4 model Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv. BioRxiv.
Swarbreck SM, Wang M, Wang Y, Kindred D, Sylvester-Bradley R, Shi Weiming, Varinderpal-Singh, Bentley AR, Griffiths H (2019). A roadmap for lowering crop nitrogen requirement. Trends in Plant Science 24 (10), 892-904.