Research
The hormonal control of growth, differentiation and development in plants was Osborne's lifelong interest. She is particularly known for her work establishing that the gas ethylene is a natural plant hormone, rather than a by-product or pollutant, and for demonstrating that ethylene, rather than abscisic acid, is the major regulator of senescence (ageing) and abscission (shedding of parts such as leaves). She conducted extensive research into interactions between ethylene and auxin (another key plant hormone) in controlling numerous aspects of plant development. This work led her to develop the idea of the target cell as a model for how a small number of plant hormones can exert many different effects, a concept she expounded in her 2005 book, Hormones, Signals and Target Cells in Plant Development (co-authored with Michael McManus).
Another major focus of Osborne's research was seed biology. An expert on seed ageing and plant DNA repair, Osborne researched the effects of DNA degradation, repair and telomere length on the viability of seeds. In the 1970s, she was among the earliest to attempt to isolate nucleic acids from ancient seeds, finding that only very short fragments could be isolated from grains from Egyptian tombs. Among her final research projects was a study of the effects on DNA repair in seeds and pollen of exposure to radioactive fallout after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion.
Osborne studied a huge diversity of plant species, from the aquatic liverwort to the commercially important African oil palm. Other topics of research within plant science included auxin herbicides; dormancy in potato tubers; growth regulation in aquatic and semi-aquatic plants; linking plant ultrastructure with physiology and biochemistry; and protein and RNA synthesis in plants. She was active in the field of space biology, designing a project for Spacelab studying the role of gravity on development in grass, and serving on the Royal Society British National Committee on Space Research for a decade.
She also worked on the effects of plant hormones on insects, showing that sexual maturity in desert locusts is regulated by gibberellins, so that eating withered vegetation low in gibberellins might prevent the insects becoming sexually mature during the dry season.
Read more about this topic: Daphne Osborne
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