Dr Raymond Wightman
- Imaging Core Facility Manager
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Location
- Sainsbury Laboratory
- Bateman Street, Cambridge, CB2 1LR
About
As the Imaging Core Facility Manager, I ensure researchers have access to cutting-edge techniques in light and electron microscopy. Together with other team members, we provide day-to-day training and support for Sainsbury Laboratory researchers and ensure equipment meets the needs of new projects and challenges.
I have been at the Sainsbury Laboratory since 2011, initially as a postdoctoral researcher in Elliot Meyerowitz’s group. Prior to that I carried out research in genetics and cell biology of both plants and yeast in Manchester, Sheffield and Leicester. My PhD is in yeast genetics from University of Leicester and I did my undergraduate in biochemistry at the University of Dundee.
Research
Research interests
- CryoSEM
- Confocal microscopy
- Raman microscopy
- Plant cell walls
- Cytoskeleton
- Organelle
As our knowledge of the inner workings of plants increase, so does our demand for new methods to take our research to the next step. I work with other plant scientists to develop improved tools for probing all aspects of plant biology. This includes:
- Cryo-Scanning Electron Microscopy (cryoSEM) techniques for looking at tissue organisation and the ultrastructure of cell walls, membranes and organelles. We developed the CryoFluorSEM method, enabling us to directly observe fluorescent probes on cryofractures on samples such as seedlings, the growing shoot and root nodules.
- Deep tissue live super-resolution confocal microscopy. This allows us to observe the movement of enzyme complexes, cell compartments and cytoskeleton in cells residing in the centre of the root.
- Chemical imaging techniques using fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) and Raman microscopy.
In addition to growing and forming organs such as leaves and flowers, plants produce various natural materials that helps them stay upright and deal with whatever the world throws at them. A key structure is the plant cell wall consisting of cellulose, the most abundant biopolymer on the planet. Cellulose plays an important role in defining cell shape and providing structural support (think of wood in tall trees). I use various microscopy methods to understand cellulose formation. Some plants produce specialist materials: In collaboration with horticulturists from Cambridge University Botanic Garden, we discovered the rare and potentially useful mineral called vaterite on the surface of some alpine plants and a novel fibre that forms a woolly coat on a mountainous plant called Dionysia tapetodes.