Dale Sanders Explained

Dale Sanders should not be confused with Dale Sanders (railroad photographer).

Birth Date:1953 5, df=y[1]
Thesis Title:The regulation of ion transport in characean cells
Thesis Url:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.471540
Thesis Year:1978
Awards:FRS (2001)

Dale Sanders, FRS (born 13 May 1953) is a plant biologist and former Director of the John Innes Centre.[2] The centre is an institute for research in plant sciences and microbiology, in Norwich, England.

Education

Sanders was educated at The Hemel Hempstead School. He gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of York reading Biology from 1971 to 1974, graduating with 1st Class Honours.

Sanders did his PhD alongside Professor Enid AC MacRobbie FRS at Darwin College, Cambridge in 1978, in the Department of Plant Sciences. In 1993, Sanders earned his Sc.D. from the University of Cambridge.

Research

Sanders’ research explores the transport of ions across plant cell membranes[3]  and the roles of ions in signalling and nutrient status.

Sanders’ first significant finding during his PhD was to provide unequivocal evidence that inorganic anion uptake in plants is powered by a proton gradient[4] and showed how transport is regulated through intracellular ion concentrations.[5]

In subsequent research as a post-doc at Yale University School of Medicine he pioneered the first methods to measure and interpret the interplay between control of intracellular pH and activity of the plasma membrane proton pump. Showing how the regulation of the proton pump is controlled by – and in turn controls – intracellular pH.[6] This work on a fungus served as a paradigm for understanding the interplay of membrane transport and cellular homeostasis in fungal and plant cells.

On taking an academic position at the University of York, Sanders developed novel electrophysiological approaches to plant cellular signalling and membrane transport.

The Sanders lab demonstrated a key link between changes in cytosolic free calcium and photosynthetic activity, and through many technical developments showed how membrane transport at the plant vacuole is energised and regulated in response to physiological demand.

Sanders also developed a unified mathematical theory that explained complex kinetics of solute uptake in plants,[7] [8] along with having created the first methodology to measure transient changes in intracellular calcium levels in higher plants, and discovered that light/dark changes in photosynthetic activity were highly dependent on cytosolic changes in calcium.[9]

In the days before extensive molecular biology, Sanders discovered that the vacuolar proton pump of plants was essentially similar to mitochondrial ATPases.[10] He also adapted electrophysiological techniques first developed for exploration of neuronal channel properties to determine that pumps at vacuolar membranes exhibit kinetic responses to ion gradients that would not be predicted through biochemical means.[11] [12] [13] Parallel to this, he discovered that vacuolar membranes exhibit electrically-driven ion release.[14]

Using both electrophysiological and biochemical approaches, Sanders was able to establish for the first time in plants that metabolites can act as triggers for release of calcium (a cellular signal) from vacuoles.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Sanders established principles for biofortification of cereal crops with essential human mineral nutrients,[21]  and molecularly characterised calcium permeable channels.[22] Sanders also discovered and characterised the first (and only) yeast calcium channel[23] [24] and demonstrated how cell marking can be used to distinguish cell types for patch clamp studies.[25]

Sanders also had influence in the investigation into the roles of plant cyclic nucleotide-gated channels that were explored at an early stage of discovery[26] and resulted in a major collaborative publication with another lab demonstrating a key role in plant-bacterial symbiosis signalling.[27]

On top of his extensive discoveries, he has also written influential reviews on calcium signalling in plants, which have 3,300 combined citations on Google Scholar.[28] [29] [30]

To further his work on calcium channels, he then discovered that the TPC1 channel is the major pathway for ion exchange across plant vacuolar membranes.[31] Their speculations that the TPC1 channel is involved in Calcium-induced calcium release were proven for the first time in plants in work from Sanders’ lab. He then established the principal molecular and cellular mechanisms for plant tolerance to manganese toxicity.[32]

Sanders has discovered the major mechanism of zinc accumulation in plant vacuoles, and more recently characterised the molecular properties of the transporter[33] and showed how the transporter could be used for nutritional benefit for human consumption of cereal grains.[34] On top of further collaborating with a Chinese lab to establish more generally the important role of zinc nutrition in rice.[35]

Sander’s current research focuses on how plant cells respond to changes in their environment[36]  and how they store the nutrients they acquire. In particular, his group work on how transport of chemical elements across cell membranes in plants is integrated with cellular signalling and nutritional status.[21]

Career

Sanders' research career began at the Yale University School of Medicine, first as a postdoctoral research fellow (1978–79) and then as a postdoctoral research associate (1979–83).

After a stint as a visiting research fellow in the University of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney (1983), Sanders moved into the biology department at the University of York in 1983, first as a lecturer (1983–89), a reader (1989–1992), a professor (1992–2010), also acting as the head of department (2004–2010).[37]

In 2010 Sanders moved to the John Innes Centre, Norwich, as director and group leader,[38] establishing new collaborations with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[39]

Awards and honours

Sanders was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001.[40]

Throughout his career Sanders has received a number of additional awards and honours, including:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SANDERS, Prof. Dale . Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press .
  2. Web site: Dale Sanders announced as new director for John Innes Centre . https://web.archive.org/web/20101231004543/http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/media-and-public/current-releases/100302NewJICDirector.htm . 2010-12-31 . dead .
  3. Dodd. Antony N.. Kudla. Jörg. Sanders. Dale. 2010. The language of calcium signaling. Annual Review of Plant Biology. 61. 593–620. 10.1146/annurev-arplant-070109-104628. 1545-2123. 20192754.
  4. Sanders. Dale. 1980-06-01. The mechanism of Cl− transport at the plasma membrane ofChara corallina I. Cotransport with H+. The Journal of Membrane Biology. en. 53. 2. 129–141. 10.1007/BF01870581. 20260325. 1432-1424.
  5. Sanders. D.. Hansen. U. P.. Slayman. C. L.. 1981-09-01. Role of the plasma membrane proton pump in pH regulation in non-animal cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 78. 9. 5903–5907. 10.1073/pnas.78.9.5903. 0027-8424. 6458045. 348903. 1981PNAS...78.5903S . free.
  6. Sanders. D. Slayman. C L. 1982-09-01. Control of intracellular pH. Predominant role of oxidative metabolism, not proton transport, in the eukaryotic microorganism Neurospora.. Journal of General Physiology. 80. 3. 377–402. 10.1085/jgp.80.3.377. 6292329. 2228685. 0022-1295.
  7. Ballarin-Denti. A.. den Hollander. J. A.. Sanders. D.. Slayman. C. W.. Slayman. C. L.. 1984-11-21. Kinetics and pH-dependence of glycine-proton symport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes. en. 778. 1. 1–16. 10.1016/0005-2736(84)90442-5. 6093875. 0005-2736.
  8. Sanders. Dale. 1986-02-01. Generalized kinetic analysis of ion-driven cotransport systems: II. Random ligand binding as a simple explanation for non-Michaelian kinetics. The Journal of Membrane Biology. en. 90. 1. 67–87. 10.1007/BF01869687. 2422385. 9688689. 1432-1424.
  9. Miller. Anthony J.. Sanders. Dale. March 1987. Depletion of cytosolic free calcium induced by photosynthesis. Nature. en. 326. 6111. 397–400. 10.1038/326397a0. 1987Natur.326..397M . 4366974. 1476-4687.
  10. Rea. Philip A.. Griffith. Christopher J.. Manolson. Morris F.. Sanders. Dale. 1987-11-02. Irreversible inhibition of H+-ATPase of higher plant tonoplast by chaotropic anions: evidence for peripheral location of nucleotide-binding subunits. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes. en. 904. 1. 1–12. 10.1016/0005-2736(87)90080-0. 0005-2736.
  11. Davies. Julia M.. Rea. Philip A.. Sanders. Dale. 1991-01-14. Vacuolar proton-pumping pyrophosphatase inBeta vulgaris shows vectorial activation by potassium. FEBS Letters. en. 278. 1. 66–68. 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80085-H. 1847114. 30539428. 0014-5793. free.
  12. Davies. J M. Poole. R J. Rea. P A. Sanders. D. 1992-12-15. Potassium transport into plant vacuoles energized directly by a proton-pumping inorganic pyrophosphatase.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 89. 24. 11701–11705. 10.1073/pnas.89.24.11701. 0027-8424. 1334545. 50624. 1992PNAS...8911701D . free.
  13. Davies. J. M.. Hunt. I.. Sanders. D.. 1994-08-30. Vacuolar H(+)-pumping ATPase variable transport coupling ratio controlled by pH. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 91. 18. 8547–8551. 10.1073/pnas.91.18.8547. 0027-8424. 8078920. 44643. 1994PNAS...91.8547D . free.
  14. Marshall. Jacqueline. Corzo. Alfonso. Leigh. Roger A.. Sanders. Dale. 1994. Membrane potential-dependent calcium transport in right-side-out plasma membrane vesicles from Zea mays L. roots. The Plant Journal. en. 5. 5. 683–694. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.1994.00683.x. 1365-313X.
  15. Web site:
  16. Allen. G. J.. Sanders. D.. September 1995. Calcineurin, a Type 2B Protein Phosphatase, Modulates the Ca2+-Permeable Slow Vacuolar Ion Channel of Stomatal Guard Cells. The Plant Cell. 7. 9. 1473–1483. 10.1105/tpc.7.9.1473. 1532-298X. 12242407. 160973.
  17. Muir. Shelagh R.. Sanders. Dale. 1996. Pharmacology of Ca2+ release from red beet microsomes suggests the presence of ryanodine receptor homologs in higher plants. FEBS Letters. en. 395. 1. 39–42. 10.1016/0014-5793(96)01000-9. 8849685. 28729727. 1873-3468.
  18. Web site:
  19. Navazio. Lorella. Bewell. Michael A.. Siddiqua. Ashia. Dickinson. George D.. Galione. Antony. Sanders. Dale. 2000-07-18. Calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum of higher plants elicited by the NADP metabolite nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 97. 15. 8693–8698. 10.1073/pnas.140217897. 0027-8424. 10890899. 27010. 2000PNAS...97.8693N . free.
  20. Dodd. Antony N.. Gardner. Michael J.. Hotta. Carlos T.. Hubbard. Katharine E.. Dalchau. Neil. Love. John. Assie. Jean-Maurice. Robertson. Fiona C.. Jakobsen. Mia Kyed. Gonçalves. Jorge. Sanders. Dale. 2007-12-14. The Arabidopsis Circadian Clock Incorporates a cADPR-Based Feedback Loop. Science. 318. 5857. 1789–1792. 10.1126/science.1146757. 18084825. 2007Sci...318.1789D . 41796911. free.
  21. Palmgren. Michael G.. Clemens. Stephan. Williams. Lorraine E.. Krämer. Ute. Borg. Søren. Schjørring. Jan K.. Sanders. Dale. 2008-09-01. Zinc biofortification of cereals: problems and solutions. Trends in Plant Science. en. 13. 9. 464–473. 10.1016/j.tplants.2008.06.005. 18701340. 1360-1385.
  22. Web site:
  23. Fischer. Marc. Schnell. Norbert. Chattaway. Jayne. Davies. Paul. Dixon. Graham. Sanders. Dale. 1997-12-15. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae CCH1 gene is involved in calcium influx and mating. FEBS Letters. en. 419. 2. 259–262. 10.1016/S0014-5793(97)01466-X. 9428646. 12716755. 0014-5793.
  24. Peiter. Edgar. Fischer. Marc. Sidaway. Kate. Roberts. Stephen K.. Sanders. Dale. 2005-10-24. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ca2+ channel Cch1pMid1p is essential for tolerance to cold stress and iron toxicity. FEBS Letters. en. 579. 25. 5697–5703. 10.1016/j.febslet.2005.09.058. 16223494. 36582092. 0014-5793.
  25. Maathuis. Frans J. M.. May. Sean T.. Graham. Neil S.. Bowen. Helen C.. Jelitto. Till C.. Trimmer. Paul. Bennett. Malcolm J.. Sanders. Dale. White. Philip J.. 1998. Cell marking in Arabidopsis thaliana and its application to patch–clamp studies. The Plant Journal. en. 15. 6. 843–851. 10.1046/j.1365-313X.1998.00256.x. 9807822. 1365-313X.
  26. Sunkar. Ramanjulu. Kaplan. Boaz. Bouché. Nicolas. Arazi. Tzahi. Dolev. Dvora. Talke. Ina N.. Maathuis. Frans J. M.. Sanders. Dale. Bouchez. David. Fromm. Hillel. 2000. Expression of a truncated tobacco NtCBP4 channel in transgenic plants and disruption of the homologous Arabidopsis CNGC1 gene confer Pb2+ tolerance. The Plant Journal. en. 24. 4. 533–542. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2000.00901.x. 11115134. 1365-313X. free.
  27. Charpentier. Myriam. Sun. Jongho. Martins. Teresa Vaz. Radhakrishnan. Guru V.. Findlay. Kim. Soumpourou. Eleni. Thouin. Julien. Véry. Anne-Aliénor. Sanders. Dale. Morris. Richard J.. Oldroyd. Giles E. D.. 2016-05-27. Nuclear-localized cyclic nucleotide–gated channels mediate symbiotic calcium oscillations. Science. 352. 6289. 1102–1105. 10.1126/science.aae0109. 27230377. 2016Sci...352.1102C . 206646218.
  28. Web site:
  29. Web site:
  30. Dodd. Antony N.. Kudla. Jörg. Sanders. Dale. 2010-06-02. The Language of Calcium Signaling. Annual Review of Plant Biology. en. 61. 1. 593–620. 10.1146/annurev-arplant-070109-104628. 20192754. 1543-5008.
  31. Peiter. Edgar. Maathuis. Frans J. M.. Mills. Lewis N.. Knight. Heather. Pelloux. Jérôme. Hetherington. Alistair M.. Sanders. Dale. March 2005. The vacuolar Ca2+-activated channel TPC1 regulates germination and stomatal movement. Nature. en. 434. 7031. 404–408. 10.1038/nature03381. 15772667. 2005Natur.434..404P . 4418276. 1476-4687.
  32. Peiter. Edgar. Montanini. Barbara. Gobert. Anthony. Pedas. Pai. Husted. Søren. Maathuis. Frans J. M.. Blaudez. Damien. Chalot. Michel. Sanders. Dale. 2007-05-15. A secretory pathway-localized cation diffusion facilitator confers plant manganese tolerance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 104. 20. 8532–8537. 10.1073/pnas.0609507104. 0027-8424. 17494768. 1895984. 2007PNAS..104.8532P . free.
  33. Podar. Dorina. Scherer. Judith. Noordally. Zeenat. Herzyk. Pawel. Nies. Dietrich. Sanders. Dale. 2012-01-01. Metal Selectivity Determinants in a Family of Transition Metal Transporters *. Journal of Biological Chemistry. English. 287. 5. 3185–3196. 10.1074/jbc.M111.305649. 22139846. 3270973. 0021-9258. free.
  34. Menguer. Paloma K.. Vincent. Thomas. Miller. Anthony J.. Brown. James K. M.. Vincze. Eva. Borg. Søren. Holm. Preben Bach. Sanders. Dale. Podar. Dorina. 2018. Improving zinc accumulation in cereal endosperm using HvMTP1, a transition metal transporter. Plant Biotechnology Journal. en. 16. 1. 63–71. 10.1111/pbi.12749. 1467-7652. 5785336. 28436146.
  35. Gao. Shaopei. Xiao. Yunhua. Xu. Fan. Gao. Xiaokai. Cao. Shouyun. Zhang. Fengxia. Wang. Guodong. Sanders. Dale. Chu. Chengcai. 2019. Cytokinin-dependent regulatory module underlies the maintenance of zinc nutrition in rice. New Phytologist. en. 224. 1. 202–215. 10.1111/nph.15962. 31131881. 167211152. 1469-8137. free.
  36. Sanders. Dale. 2020. The salinity challenge. New Phytologist. en. 225. 3. 1047–1048. 10.1111/nph.16357. 1469-8137. 6973154. 31894589.
  37. Web site: Dale Sanders Laboratory. 2020-07-20. www.york.ac.uk.
  38. Web site: 2018-11-30. Professor Dale Sanders. 2020-07-20. John Innes Centre. en-GB.
  39. http://www.jic.ac.uk/news/2014/07/centre-excellence-plant-and-microbial-science/ JIC and Chinese Academy of Sciences collaborate on new Centre of Excellence
  40. Web site: Dale Sanders Royal Society. 2020-07-20. royalsociety.org. en-gb.
  41. Web site: 2021-11-11. Dale Sanders receives China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. 2021-12-13. John Innes Centre. en-GB.
  42. Web site: 2021-01-18. Prestigious Chinese award for Professor Dale Sanders. 2021-12-13. John Innes Centre. en-GB.

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