Professor Miriam Gifford

Professor & Head of School

email: M.L.Gifford@warwick.ac.uk

phone: 024 765 75268

Office: C107

Bluesky: giffordlab.bsky.social

Gifford webpage

Research Clusters

Plant & Agricultural Sciences

Environment & Ecology

Quantitative, Systems & Engineering Biology

Warwick Centres and GRPs

Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre

Vacancies and Opportunities

Opportunities in Gifford lab

Research Interests

We are interested in how plants interact with the environment. The mechanisms that facilitate this interaction are particularly important for plants since they are sessile yet still cope with environmental extremes.

When plant roots and microbes work together in symbiosis the ways they interact are even more important since more efficient interactions benefit both. By combining study of the root cell types that house microbes, the soil in which the interaction exists, and the genes and molecules regulating it, we aim to improve plant yield and sustainability in tune with the environment.

From root-soil-rhizosphere interactions, to circadian-shaping of nodulation, our work investigates a number of plant-nitrogen interactions. Please see my Gifford lab webpage where you can hear more details from the staff and students in the group.

Research: Technical Summary

Miriam Gifford has an international reputation for studying networks involved in plant responses to the environment, with a particular focus on modelling cell type specific gene networks enabling symbiosis with rhizobia (BB/P002145/1) and the impact of the circadian clock on nodulation (BB/T015357/1) and on the rhizosphere.

The lab’s collaborations with mathematical and computational scientists have resulted in advances in bioinformatic methods, such as network inference and meta-transcriptomics, including in tomato on the EU ROOTOPOWER project in which MG led one of the six work packages.

At the evolutionary level, MG has investigated connections between nodulation and lateral root development (BB/H019502/1, BB/J001872/1). Work has also included using population level studies (GWAS) and discovery of genes that control specific root architecture traits under distinct nitrogen environments, including of the first nitrogen-regulated microRNA (US Patent# 60/918,443).

Please see my Gifford lab webpage where you can read more details.

Biography

School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, UK

Professor and Head of School: 2021-onwards

Reader: 2019-2021

Associate Prof: 2014-2019

Assistant Prof: 2009-2014

Centre for Genomics & Systems Biology, New York University, USA

Post-doctoral fellow in Coruzzi & Birnbaum labs, inc. EMBO long-term fellowship: 2004-09

University of Edinburgh, UK

PhD: Cell layer specification during Arabidopsis embryogenesis: 2004

BSc Hons Biological Sciences / Honours Plant Science: 2001

Publications

Rowson, Monique, Jolly, Matthew, Dickson, Suzanna, Gifford, Miriam L. and Carré, Isabelle A. (2024) Timely symbiosis : circadian control of legume-rhizobia symbiosis. Biochemical Society Transactions, 52 (3). pp. 1419-1430. doi:10.1042/BST20231307 ISSN 0300-5127. (In Press)

Hurst, Clare and Gifford, Miriam L. (2024) In preprints : hormonal stepping stones to diverging root organogenesis. Development, 151 (2). dev202636. doi:10.1242/dev.202636 ISSN 1477-9129.

Dong, Xiaoxu, Gifford, Miriam L. and Su, Chao (2024) Ca2+ signatures in symbiosis : another level of dynamism for this key messenger. Journal of Experimental Botany, 75 (2). pp. 508-510. doi:10.1093/jxb/erad466 ISSN 1460-2431.

Gifford, Miriam L., Xu, Guohua, Dupuy, Lionel X., Vissenberg, Kris and Rebetzke, Greg (2024) Root architecture and rhizosphere–microbe interactions. Journal of Experimental Botany, 75 (2). pp. 503-507. doi:10.1093/jxb/erad488 ISSN 1460-2431.

Lagunas, Beatriz, Richards, Luke, Sergaki, Chrysi, Burgess, Jamie, Pardal , Alonso Javier, Hussain, Rana M. F., Richmond, Bethany L., Baxter, Laura, Roy, Proyash, Pakidi, Anastasia, Stovold, Gina, Vázquez, Saúl, Ott, Sascha, Schäfer, Patrick and Gifford, Miriam L. (2023) Rhizobial nitrogen fixation efficiency shapes endosphere bacterial communities and Medicago truncatula host growth. Microbiome, 11 (1). 146. doi:10.1186/s40168-023-01592-0 ISSN 2049-2618.

Wilkinson, Helen, Coppock, Alice, Richmond, Bethany L., Lagunas, Beatriz and Gifford, Miriam L. (2023) Plant–environment response pathway regulation uncovered by investigating non-typical legume symbiosis and nodulation. Plants, 12 (10). 1964. doi:10.3390/plants12101964 ISSN 2223-7747.

Sheikh, Arsheed H., Zacharia, Iosif, Pardal, Alonso J., Dominguez-Ferreras, Ana, Sueldo, Daniela J., Kim, Jung-Gun, Balmuth, Alexi, Gutierrez, Jose R., Conlan, Brendon F., Ullah, Najeeb et al.

(2023) Dynamic changes of the Prf/Pto tomato resistance complex following effector recognition. Nature Communications, 14 (1). 2568. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38103-6 ISSN 2041-1723.

Parkinson, Sam J., Tungsirisurp, Sireethorn, Joshi, Chitra, Richmond, Bethany L., Gifford, Miriam L., Sikder, Amrita, Lynch, Iseult, O’Reilly, Rachel K. and Napier, Richard (2022) Polymer nanoparticles pass the plant interface. Nature Communications, 13 (1). 7385. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35066-y ISSN 2041-1723.

Richmond, Bethany L., Coelho, Chloe L., Wilkinson, Helen, McKenna, Joseph F., Ratchinski, Pélagie, Schwarze, Maximillian, Frost, Matthew, Lagunas, Beatriz and Gifford, Miriam L. (2022) Elucidating connections between the strigolactone biosynthesis pathway, flavonoid production and root system architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiologia Plantarum, 174 (2). doi:10.1111/ppl.13681 ISSN 0031-9317.

Achom, Mingkee, Roy, Proyash, Lagunas, Beatriz, Picot, Emma, Richards, L., Bonyadi-Pour, Roxanna, Pardal , Alonso Javier, Baxter, Laura, Richmond, Bethany L., Aschauer, N., Fletcher, E., Rowson, M., Blackwell, J., Rich-Griffin, C., Mysore, K. S., Wen, J., Ott, Sascha, Carré, Isabelle A. and Gifford, Miriam L. (2022) Plant circadian clock control of Medicago truncatula nodulation via regulation of Nodule Cysteine-Rich peptides. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73 (5). pp. 2142-2156. doi:10.1093/jxb/erab526 ISSN 0022-0957.

Baxter, Laura, Roy, Proyash, Picot, Emma, Watts, Jess, Jones, Alexandra M., Wilkinson, Helen, Schäfer, Patrick, Gifford, Miriam L. and Lagunas, Beatriz (2021) Comparative genomics across three ensifer species using a new complete genome sequence of the Medicago symbiont Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) meliloti WSM1022. Microorganisms, 9 (12). 2428. doi:10.3390/microorganisms9122428 ISSN 2076-2607.

Martínez‐Andújar, Cristina, Martínez‐Pérez, Ascensión, Albacete, Alfonso, Martínez‐Melgarejo, Purificación A., Dodd, Ian C., Thompson, Andrew J., Mohareb, Fady, Estelles‐Lopez, Lucia, Kevei, Zoltan, Ferrández‐Ayela, Almudena, Pérez‐Pérez, José Manuel, Gifford, Miriam L. and Pérez‐Alfocea, Francisco (2021) Overproduction of ABA in rootstocks alleviates salinity stress in tomato shoots. Plant, Cell & Environment, 44 (9). pp. 2966-2986. doi:10.1111/pce.14121 ISSN 1365-3040.

Rogers, Alistair, Dietz, Karl-Josef, Gifford, Miriam L. and Lunn, John E. (2021) The importance of independent replication of treatments in plant science. Journal of Experimental Botany, 72 (15). pp. 5270-5274. ISSN 0022-0957 doi:10.1093/jxb/erab268

Walker, Liam, Lagunas, Beatriz and Gifford, Miriam L. (2020) Determinants of host range specificity in Legume-Rhizobia symbiosis. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11 . 585749. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.585749 ISSN 1664-302X.

Carroll, Daire, Holden, Nicola, Gifford, Miriam L. and Dupuy, Lionel X. (2020) Framework for quantification of the dynamics of root colonization by pseudomonas fluorescens isolate SBW25. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11 . doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.585443 ISSN 1664-302X.

Roy, Proyash, Achom, Mingkee, Wilkinson, Helen, Lagunas, Beatriz and Gifford, Miriam L. (2020) Symbiotic outcome modified by the diversification from 7 to over 700 nodule specific cysteine rich peptides. Genes, 11 (4). 348. doi:10.3390/genes11040348 ISSN 2073-4425.

Lagunas, Beatriz, Dodd, Ian C. and Gifford, Miriam L. (2019) A ‘nodemap’ to sustainable maize roots : linking nitrogen and water uptake improvements. Journal of Experimental Botany, 70 (19). pp. 5036-5039. doi:10.1093/jxb/erz315 ISSN 1460-2431.

Lagunas, Beatriz, Achom, Mingkee, Bonyadi-Pour, Roxanna, Pardal , Alonso Javier, Richmond, Bethany L., Sergaki, Chrysi, Vázquez, Saúl, Schäfer, Patrick, Ott, Sascha, Hammond, John and Gifford, Miriam L. (2019) Regulation of resource partitioning coordinates nitrogen and rhizobia responses and autoregulation of nodulation in the legume Medicago truncatula. Molecular Plant, 12 (6). pp. 833-846. doi:10.1016/j.molp.2019.03.014 ISSN 1674-2052.

Sergaki, Chrysi, Lagunas, Beatriz, Lidbury, Ian, Gifford, Miriam L. and Schäfer, Patrick (2018) Challenges and approaches in microbiome research : from fundamental to applied. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9 . 1205. doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.01205 ISSN 1664-462X.

Lagunas, Beatriz, Walker, Liam, Hussain, Rana Muhammad Fraz, Hands-Portman, Ian, Woolley-Allen, Kate and Gifford, Miriam L. (2018) Histological profiling over time to optimize root cell type-specific reporter lines for cell sorting. In: Ristova D., Barbez E., (ed.) Root Development. Methods in Molecular Biology, 1761 . New York, NY: Humana Press, pp. 165-175. ISBN 9781493977475

Walker, Liam, Boddington, Clare, Jenkins, Dafyd J., Wang, Ying, Gronlund, Jesper T., Hulsmans, J., Kumar, Sanjeev, Patel, Dhaval, Moore, Jonathan D., Carter, Anthony, Samavedam, Siva, Bonomo, Giovanni, Hersh, David S., Coruzzi, Gloria‏, Burroughs, Nigel John and Gifford, Miriam L. (2017) Changes in gene expression in space and time orchestrate environmentally mediated shaping of root architecture. The Plant Cell, 29 (10). pp. 2393-2412. doi:10.1105/tpc.16.00961 ISSN 1040-4651.

Ferrández-Ayela, Almudena , Sánchez-García, Ana Belén, Martínez-Andújar, Cristina, Gifford, Miriam L., Thompson, Andrew J., Pérez-Alfocea, Francisco and Pérez-Pérez, José Manuel (2016) Identification of novel stress-responsive biomarkers from gene expression datasets in tomato roots. Functional Plant Biology, 43 (8). pp. 783-796. doi:10.1071/FP15385 ISSN 1445-4408.

Ferrández-Ayela, Almudena , Sánchez-García, Ana Belén, Martinez-Andejar, Cristina, Kevei, Zoltan, Gifford, Miriam L., Thompson, Andrew J., Pérez-Alfocea, Francisco and Pérez-Pérez, José Manuel (2016) Identification of novel stress-responsive biomarkers from gene expression datasets in tomato roots. Functional Plant Biology, 43 (8). pp. 783-796. doi:10.1071/FP15385 ISSN 1445-4408.

Vernié, Tatiana, Kim, Jiyoung, Frances, Lisa, Ding, Yiliang, Sun, Jongho, Guan, Dian, Niebel, Andreas, Gifford, Miriam L., de Carvalho-Niebel, Fernanda and Oldroyd, Giles E. D. (2015) The NIN transcription factor coordinates diverse nodulation programmes in different tissues of the root. The Plant Cell, 27 (12). pp. 3410-3424. doi:10.1105/tpc.15.00461 ISSN 1040-4651.

Coker, Timothy L. R., Cevik, Volkan, Beynon, Jim and Gifford, Miriam L. (2015) Spatial dissection of the Arabidopsis thaliana transcriptional response to downy mildew using fluorescence activated cell sorting. Frontiers in plant science, Volume 6 . pp. 1-13. Article number 527. doi:10.3389/fpls.2015.00527 ISSN 1664-462X.

Reitz, M. U., Gifford, Miriam L. and Schäfer, Patrick (2015) Hormone activities and the cell cycle machinery in immunity-triggered growth inhibition. Journal of Experimental Botany, 66 (8). pp. 2187-2197. doi:10.1093/jxb/erv106 ISSN 0022-0957.

Lagunas, B., Schäfer, Patrick and Gifford, Miriam L. (2015) Housing helpful invaders : the evolutionary and molecular architecture underlying plant root-mutualist microbe interactions. Journal of Experimental Botany, 66 (8). pp. 2177-2186. doi:10.1093/jxb/erv038 ISSN 0022-0957.

Wang, Ying, Penfold, Christopher A., Hodgson, D. A., Gifford, Miriam L. and Burroughs, Nigel John (2014) Correcting for link loss in causal network inference caused by regulator interference. Bioinformatics, Volume 30 (Number 19). pp. 2779-2786. doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btu388 ISSN 1367-4803.

Carter, Anthony D., Bonyadi, Roxanna and Gifford, Miriam L. (2013) The use of fluorescence-activated cell sorting in studying plant development and environmental responses. The International Journal of Developmental Biology, Volume 57 . pp. 545-552. doi:10.1387/ijdb.130195mg ISSN 0214-6282.

Gifford, Miriam L., Banta, Joshua A., Katari, Manpreet S., Hulsmans, Jo, Chen, Lisa, Ristova, Daniela, Tranchina, Daniel, Purugganan, Michael D., Coruzzi, Gloria, Birnbaum, Kenneth D., Rosas, Ulises and Cibrian-Jaramillo, Angelica (2013) Plasticity regulators modulate specific root traits in discrete nitrogen environments. PLoS Genetics, Volume 9 (Number 9). Article number e1003760. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1003760 ISSN 1553-7390.

Rosas, Ulises, Cibrian-Jaramillo, Angelica, Ristova, Daniela, Banta, Joshua A., Gifford, Miriam L., Fan, A. H., Zhou, R. W., Kim, G. J., Krouk, G., Birnbaum, Kenneth D., Purugganan, Michael D. and Coruzzi, G. M. (2013) Integration of responses within and across Arabidopsis natural accessions uncovers loci controlling root systems architecture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Volume 110 (Number 37). pp. 15133-15138. doi:10.1073/pnas.1305883110 ISSN 0027-8424.

Grønlund, Jesper T., Eyres, Alison, Kumar, Sanjeev, Buchanan-Wollaston, Vicky and Gifford, Miriam L. (2012) Cell specific analysis of Arabidopsis leaves using fluorescence activated cell sorting. Journal of Visualized Experiments (No.68). e4214. doi:10.3791/4214 ISSN 1940-087X.

Carter, A. and Gifford, Miriam L. (2010) Understanding how nitrogen regulates developmental mechanisms using systems biology. In: Water & nitrogen use efficiency in plants and crops, Marston, Lincs, UK , 15-16 Dec 2010 . Published in: Aspects of Applied Biology, Vol.105 pp. 175-182. ISSN 0265-1491.

Gifford, Miriam L. (2010) The ways of science. In: Richards, K., (ed.) The new optimists : scientists view tomorrow's world & what it means to us. Linus Publishing. ISBN 978-1907843006

Gifford, Miriam L., Dean, A., Gutierrez, R. A., Coruzzi, G. M. and Birnbaum, Kenneth D. (2008) Cell-specific nitrogen responses mediate developmental plasticity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol.105 (No.2). pp. 803-808. doi:10.1073/pnas.0709559105 ISSN 0027-8424.

Research Projects

Title	Funder	Award start	Award end
MoU with Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University for PhD students to visit	Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University	19 Sep 2024	18 Sep 2029
WIF Studentship Agreement with James Hutton Institute and MycoNourish - June 2023	James Hutton Institute, The	03 Oct 2022	02 Apr 2026
BBSRC ALERT22 Costings - Sarah Bennett	BBSRC	01 Aug 2023	31 Jul 2024
An N-fix in time (Responsive Mode)	BBSRC	01 Jun 2020	30 Nov 2023
UK-Brazil International Partnering Award: Development of novel strategies to address plant-microbes interactions in planta	BBSRC	01 Apr 2022	31 Mar 2023
Microbial establishment on growing rhizoplanes - WCPRS and James Hutton Studentship for Daire Carroll	James Hutton Institute, The	02 Oct 2017	30 Jun 2021
CoA: Capturing microbial co-symbiosis to sustain plant productivity; linked to Ideate 50031	UK Research and Innovation	01 Nov 2020	31 Mar 2021
Capturing microbial co-symbiosis to sustain plant productivity	BBSRC	01 Oct 2016	31 May 2020
MLSRF Mohan T Chandrashekarai	Medical and Life Sciences Research Fund	01 Mar 2018	28 Feb 2019
FP7 -ROOTOPOWER: Empowering root-targeted strategies to minimise abiotic stress impacts on horticultural cropsPrevious PI - Dr Andrew Thomsonplease note: collaborative project targeted to SMEs	EU	01 Jan 2012	31 Dec 2015
Dissecting the diverse development programmes in different tissues during the development of a nitrogen fixing nodule	BBSRC	01 Apr 2012	31 Mar 2015
Developing interdisciplinary omics tools for organelle and cell type-specific analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana	New Phytologist Trust	01 Sep 2014	30 Sep 2014
Comparative Cell-specific Profiling to understand the Molecular Basis of Nodulation	BBSRC	01 Oct 2010	30 Sep 2014
WU0128 Crop improvement or resource use efficiency	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	01 Oct 2009	30 Sep 2012
IF01105 Identifying genes that could improve nitrogen use efficiency	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	01 Oct 2009	31 Mar 2010

Teaching / Student Supervision

My lab say that my supervisory style is student-centred, spontaneous, and supportive. I host UG, PGT and PGR students interested in root-environment interactions and collaborate with others in SLS to extend our research into the rhizosphere, develop nanoparticle-nitrogen solutions and understand how the plant clock affects nodulation.

Y3 Undergraduate projects: All projects in my lab involve studying how the plant root senses and responds to nitrogen in the environment, either in tissue culture or soil, and especially when it is provided by N-fixing rhizobia. These projects can be from the plant or microbe side, and include developing novel methods using biochemistry or dry-bench analysis of data or image analysis. We are very flexible on topic and approach.

Group members

Current members
Dr Beatriz Lagunas	Dr Emma Picot	Dr Lisa King
Clare Hurst	Alice Coppock	Suzanna Dickson
Monique Rowson	Jamie Burgess	Zhipeng (Jack) Guo
Cara Wharton	Matthew Jolly	Hazel Marsden
Past members
Dr Zennia Paniwynk	Dr Jesper Grønlund	Dr Sajjad Awan
Sanjeev Kumar	Dr Sally Adam	Dr Ying Wang
Dr. Dhaval Patel	Dr. Dafyd Jenkins	Dr. Fraz Hussain