University of Tasmania, Australia

Professor Sergey Shabala

Professor of Crop Physiology and Plant Nutrition

BSc (Hons) (Automation and Control Systems) 1984 (Kishinev Polytechnic Institute, Moldova)
PhD (Plant Physiology) 1989 (Inst. Exp. Botany, Minsk, Byelorussia)

Contact Details

Teaching Responsibilities

I teach three undergraduate courses at University of Tasmania: Crop Physiology (KLA214); Crop Production (KLA257); Horticultural Science (KLA365/465). My other major role is a Research Higher Degree Coordinator. I have also successfully supervised to completion 22 Honours students and 12 PhD students.

Publications

Most cited publications

• Shabala S, Newman IA, Morris J (1997) Oscillations in H+ and Ca2+ ion fluxes around the elongation region of corn roots and effects of external pH. Plant Physiology 113: 111-118
• Shabala S, Cuin TA (2008) Potassium transport and plant salt tolerance. Physiologia Plantarum 133: 651-669
• Shabala S, Demidchik V, Shabala L, Cuin TA, Smith SJ, Miller AJ, Davies JM, Newman IA (2006) Extracellular Ca2+ ameliorates NaCl-induced K+ loss from Arabidopsis root and leaf cells by controlling plasma membrane K+ permeable channels. Plant Physiology 141: 1653-1665
• Chen ZH, Pottosin II, Cuin TA, Fuglsang AT, Tester M, Jha D, Zepeda-Jazo I, Zhou MX, Palmgren MG, Newman IA, Shabala S (2007) Root plasma membrane transporters controlling K+/Na+ homeostasis in salt-stressed barley. Plant Physiology 145: 1714-1725
• Shabala S, Newman I (1999) Light-induced changes in hydrogen, calcium, potassium, and chloride ion fluxes and concentrations from the mesophyll and epidermal tissues of bean leaves. Understanding the ionic basis of light-induced bioelectrogenesis. Plant Physiology 119: 1115-1124.
• Shabala S, Lew RR (2002) Turgor regulation in osmotically stressed Arabidopsis epidermal root cells. Direct support for the role of inorganic ion uptake as revealed by concurrent flux and cell turgor measurements. Plant Physiology 129: 290-299.
• Demidchik V, Bowen HC, Maathuis FJM, Shabala S, Tester MA, White PJ, Davies JM (2002) Arabidopsis thaliana root non-selective cation channels mediate calcium uptake and are involved in growth. Plant Journal 32: 799-808.
• Demidchik V, Shabala S, Coutts KB, Tester MA, Davies JM (2003) Free oxygen radicals regulate plasma membrane Ca2+ and K+-permeable channels in plant root cells. Journal of Cell Science 116: 81-88.
• Babourina O, Newman I, Shabala S (2002) Blue light-induced kinetics of H+ and Ca2+ fluxes in etiolated wild-type and phototropin-mutant Arabidopsis seedlings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99: 2433-2438.
• Fuglsang AT, Guo Y, Cuin TA, Qiu QS, Song CP, Kristiansen KA, Bych K, Schulz A, Shabala S, Schumaker KS, Palmgren MG, Zhu JK (2007) Arabidopsis protein kinase PKS5 inhibits the plasma membrane H+-ATPase by preventing interaction with 14-3-3 protein. Plant Cell 19: 1617-1634.

Achievements

Career summary

I live and work in Australia since 1995. I lead highly vibrant Stress Physiology Research group that currently includes 3 post-doctoral research fellows, one technician, and 12 PhD students from 8 different countries. Over the last 17 years I have published over 100 peer reviewed papers, 12 book chapters, and have edited five books. My work has been cited over 2400 times (Scopus, March 2012), and my current h-index is 29. Over the last 10 years I have attracted over $5M in competitive research funding, including seven ARC Discovery grants (in all but one as the 1st named CI). I gave ~ 40 invited talks at various institutional seminars in 16 countries, and made 160 conference presentations at various national and international conferences (25 of these as an invited speaker).

I am currently ranked within top 0.5% scientists working in the area of Plant and Animal Science according to ISI Essential Science Indicators ranking. I am currently serving as an Editor or advisory board member on five international journals: Journal of Experimental Botany; Functional Plant Biology; Plant and Soil; Frontiers in Plant Biophysics and Modelling; and Plant Signalling and Behaviour. Over the last 10 years I have reviewed over 300 papers for 61 international journals, ~60 competitive grants for major national funding agencies (including ARC, BBSRC, USDA, NSF, and NSERC) in eight countries, and 16 RHD theses for candidates from seven countries.

Research interests

My major expertise is in the area of stress physiology and membrane transport. The group's research focus is on plant adaptive responses to environment (salinity, oxidative stress, extreme temperatures, soil acidity, drought, waterlogging, nutritional disorders, biotic stresses). I am also involved in a range of projects dealing with bacteria, yeast and fungi. The "cornerstone" of all projects is the crucial role of cell membranes (and, therefore, membrane-transport processes) in cell-environment interaction. Research projects range from molecular (patch-clamp studies of membrane transport proteins) to the whole plant level. Most of projects use the MIFE technique, a non-invasive microelectrode technique for measurements on net ion fluxes from plant cells and tissues. I am also interested in various aspects of cell temporal organization (ultradian oscillations and circadian rhythms) and mechanisms of programed cell death, both in plant and animal systems.