Dr Richard Espley
Position: Scientist, Plant & Food Research. Field: Plant genetics.
Richard’s current job involves investigating the genetic basis of how plants control the way they make colour, for example, in fruit.
The work ranges from beautiful orchards in Hawke’s Bay to the high-tech lab in Auckland, and I love that variety and the opportunities to keep learning.
These colours, or plant pigments, are important sources of dietary health, so the work combines his interest in the health component of fruits and basic research into the genetic control of these important compounds.
What controls apple flesh colour?
Scientists at Plant & Food Research have worked out why some apples are red-fleshed and others white-fleshed. They found a protein called MYB10 in apple, then showed that MYB10 was a transcription factor that controlled the production of anthocyanin (the red pigment in apple flesh). Richard Espley, who carried out much of the research, describes the genetic techniques that were used to help understand the function of MYB10. He also explains why red-fleshed apples have more MYB10 and more anthocyanin than white-fleshed apples.
Questions to consider
The transgenic apple plants that Richard describes are red in every tissue, but red-fleshed apple plants have red apple flesh only. Students could investigate why this might be.
How might the information from Richard’s team about the genetic basis of red flesh in apples affect apple breeding programmes?
Teaching points
To learn more about one of the techniques the team used to explore the function of the MYB10 protein in apple, see our interactive Making a transgenic plant.
This research will contribute to developing new fruit varieties with novel colour characteristics such as apples with red flesh that have health benefits from high levels of antioxidants.
Career pathway
At school, Richard enjoyed biology but never considered a career in science. He started working in the newspaper industry but after 10 years decided he wanted to combine an increasing interest in plants and biology with a return to higher education. He completed a BSc in horticultural science at Reading University where he became very interested in the possibilities of biotechnology, so he joined the plant science division at Syngenta in the UK and worked on banana biotechnology, looking at ways of improving the nutritional content, in particular of pro-vitamin A.
Richard moved to New Zealand in 2002 to join Plant & Food Research and completed a PhD in molecular biology at The University of Auckland. In 2009, Richard was named one of the MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year for his research in apple genetics.
Personal interests
Outside of work, Richard likes spending time with family and friends enjoying good food. He is also interested in Italian motorcycles and enjoys the outdoors.
Useful link
This RNZ article highlights one of Richard's latest research projects: a 'super' hybrid blueberry. This fruit combines the the taste and growing characteristics of blueberries with the colourful flesh of bilberries.
This information was current in 2011 and 2018.
