Professor Jill Farrant
Research | Media | Publications | Collaborations | Lab members | Myrothamnus Propogation Plan | ||||||
![]() Professor Jill M. Farrant
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![]() Professor Jill Farrant is a leader in the field of plant responses to water deficit stress (drought/desiccation tolerance), receiving international recognition for her research. She was the African/Arab States recipient of the 2012 L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science (download the press release), one of only five scientists worldwide who were selected by an international jury as "researchers who will have a major impact on society and help light the way to the future". Subsequently,she has been invited to give talks and lectures on the international stage (TED talk, 2015; TEDx Cape Town, 2015; BioVision, 2013; the prestigious Falling Walls conference in Berlin,2013 (see below for videos), has been awarded and nominated for numerous awards and is a fellow of the The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). She has been awarded and maintained an A-rating by the National Research Foundation (the first female researcher at UCT ever to receive such a rating) and was made a member of the University of Cape Town College of Fellows. After holding the UCT Research Chair of Molecular Plant Physiology of Desiccation Tolerance for several years, she was awarded the NRF SARChI Chair in 2015 which she holds at the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at UCT. |
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Research | ||||||
![]() Drought is the greatest threat to world agriculture. Due to global warming, increased and extended droughts are predicted in Africa (inter alia), presenting a threat to food security. Current crops do not tolerate much water loss, survival being contingent on mechanisms that retain water (technically drought resistance) which fail under severe drought. Resurrection plants (RPs) are tolerant of extreme water loss (i.e. desiccation tolerant), and Southern African RPs can also survive extreme heat. My group has systematically investigated the mechanisms whereby RPs survive these extreme conditions, with the view of introducing such characteristics into crops for improved drought tolerance and ultimately food security in the face of climate change.
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Media | ||||||
Excerpt from H2O: The Molecule That Made Us (Copyright PBS). |
TED: How Do We Make Crops Survive Without Water? |
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BBC documentary: The Genius Behind... |
Al Jazeera Earthrise: Surviving Drought in South Africa |
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Giorgio Armani: The Miracle Resurrection Plant |
Giorgio Armani: An Intimate Conversation |
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21 Icons South Africa: Jill Farrant |
Askanews: Le "Piante della Resurrezione" |
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Falling Walls 2013: Breaking the Walls of Famine |
CGTN Full Frame: Jill Farrant - Resurrecting Plants |
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EPFL-WISH Foundation: Women Scientist of 2015 |
Women's Forum for the Economy & Society |
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TEDx: Resurrecting Food Security for Africa |
Expresso Show: Resurrection Plants |
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Selected publications | ||||||
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Collaborations | ||||||
Dr MS Rafudeen | Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, South Africa. |
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Lab members | ||||||
Dr Givemore Makonya - Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Elelwani Ramulifho - Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Ademola Adetunji - Postdoctoral Research Fellow Keren Cooper - Chief Scientific Officer | Lab manager - contact keren.cooper@uct.ac.za Francois du Toit - PhD student | Functional studies of the resurrection plant Craterostigma pumilum. Amogelang Tshego Gill - PhD student | While several ferns are desiccation tolerant, the mechanisms employed by them are largely unknown. The resurrection fern Anemia caffrorum has fronds that are desiccation tolerant in the dry, summer months and are desiccation-sensitive in the rainy, winter months. I investigate this interesting phenomenon using physiology and proteomics tools. Farrah Kahn - PhD student | Transcriptional regulation of seasonal desiccation tolerance exhibited by the fern Anemia caffrorum Joelle Ndongmo - PhD student | Molecular study of Xerophyta schlechteri and its associated microbiome to improve the resistance of crops to drought stress. Mehafo Nepembe - PhD student | Characterization of GDP-mannose epimerase in Xerophyta viscosa. Jean Felistas Ntuli - PhD student | Crops face simultaneous stresses and this project aims to identify and fully characterise the molecular elements (genes, DNA, RNA – transcriptome & protein – transcription factors) that paly a dual role in plant defence for both drought tolerance and resistance to fungal pathogens. Modelling resurrection plant Xerophyta viscosa to improve Maize crops. Llewelyn van der Pas - PhD student | From proteome to biotechnology. Using the resurrection plant Eragrostis nindensis to genetically engineer drought tolerant crops Shandry Tebele - PhD student | The functional role of root microbiome and root exudates associated with the resurrection plant–Myrothamnus flabellifolius Achmat Williams - PhD student | A comparative physiology, proteomic and metabolomic study on four Bambara groundnut lines under drought stress Erikan Baluku - MSc student | Understanding how the Bionano Saphyr equipment have advanced knowledge of the genomics aspect of Xerophyta schlechteri and add to techniques used already in the studying of the genome sequence of the species Robyn Craythorne - MSc student | Structural and functional characterization of the newly termed 'Kc sites' within the Xerophyta humilis dehydrin, Xhlea2-5. Unathi Dladla - MSc student | Examination of the microbial effects of Afrikelp fertilizers on crop productuvuty and drought tolerance Armin Sadat Rezaei - MSc student | Enrichment and analysis of organelles in desiccation tolerant Craterostigma pumilum Elisha Sinyinza - MSc student | Analysis and characterisation of long non-coding RNAs associated with desiccation tolerance in the resurrection plant Xerophyta schlechteri Michael Wittenberg - MSc student | Investigation into the induction of desiccaiton tolerance in Anemia caffrorum
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