Dr Christopher Ford

Biography/ Background

I have been lecturing in the area of Oenology since 2001; before that I held a number of post-doctoral research positions within Australia and the UK. My first degree was obtained in 1984 from Hatfield Polytechnic, and in 1988 I received a DPhil. from the University of Sussex for work in the biochemistry of nitrogen fixation. This led to a postdoctoral position at the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill, in London, where I worked on the replication of influenza viruses. In 1990 I moved with my partner to Adelaide, where we have remained to this day, increasing our footprint on this wide brown land with two daughters and sundry mongrel dogs.

Teaching Interests

I am coordinator for the Level 2 courses Animal and Plant Biochemistry and Introductory Winemaking, and the Level 3 Oenology course Fermentation Technology. My teaching in oenology  encompasses many aspects of wine chemistry and technology, and their relation to production techniques from vineyard to bottling hall. I emphasise the active nature of learning, and have developed my teaching methods and the material presented in these courses to reflect this.

 

Research Interests

My research falls into three broad areas

 

• Developing an understanding of organic acid metabolism in plants. Within my laboratory, and in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Kathleen Soole (The Flinders University of South Australia), Prof. Doug Cook (University of California Davis), and Dr Seth DeBolt, (University of Kentucky) we are investigating the mechanisms by which developing grape berries metabolise ascorbic, tartaric and malic acids. To achieve this we are using a range of biochemical, molecular and metabolic approaches in whole berries and cell suspension systems.

• Characterisation of glucosyltransferase enzymes (GTases)involved in secondary metabolism. I started working in this area in 1995 when a post-doc with Prof. Peter Hoj; we identified and characterised the anthocyanidin Gtase from grapevines. Recently, Prof. Gideon Davies at The University of York and his group successfully resolved the three-dimensional structure of this enzyme - the outcome of a huge amount of work over the previous three years. Within my laboratory we are continuing to seek and characterise further GTases from grapevines, and were awarded funds from ARC Discovery scheme in 2008 for this purpose.

• Unravelling the outcomes of extended maceration (EM) in the production of red wines. During red wine production, the period of contact between berry skins and juice, must or wine may be extended beyond the normal periods to provide additional properties to the finished wine. Work in my laboratory is seeking to provide objective assessments of the changes imparted by EM - using a combination of chemical and sensory analyses the basis of the changes occurring as a consequence of these practices is being studied. We hope in this way to both understand the processes and be in a position to advise the wine industry on strategies for achieving desired wine outcomes.

Research within my lab is currently funded by the Australian Research Council and the Australian Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation.

Current CMF Lab members:

Tricia Franks and Matt Hayes - UA Postdoctoral fellows

Vanessa Melino - PhD student
Crista Burbidge - PhD student
Crystal Sweetman - PhD student (based at Flinders University)

David Contreras - PhD student

Jenny Bellon - PhD student (based at AWRI)

Cyd Yonker - PhD student (based at EJ Gallo Winery, Modesto, California).

Co-supervised PhD students: Alana Capaldo (UA Wine and Horticulture); Martin Mendez (based at EJ Gallo Winery, Modesto, California).

Past PhD students: Louise Robinson; Seth DeBolt; Susan Wheeler; Lin Lin Low, Iraj Tavassolian, Venetia Joscelyne, Vicky Harris.

Past Honours students: Madeleine Griffith; Belinda Sinclair; Christobelle Anderson; Guy Lyons; Sam Gavan; Sam Hambour; Kelly Wellington, Katie Grieve.

Past Masters students - Mario Mazza; Jayendra Patel; Chandra Rongala.

Publications

Ford, C.M. and Høj, P.B. (1998). Multiple glucosyltransferase activities in the grapevine Vitis vinifera. Aus. J. Grape and Wine Research 4, 10-20.

 

Haselgrove, L., Botting, D., van Heeswijck, R., Høj, P.B., Dry, P.R., Ford, C.M. and Iland, P.G. (2000). Canopy microclimate and berry composition: The effect of bunch exposure on the phenolic composition of Vitis vinifera L cv. Shiraz grape berries. Aus. J Grape and Wine Research 6, 141-149.

 

El-Kereamy, A., Chervin, C, Souquet, J.-M., Moutounet, M., Monje, M.C., Nepveu, F., Mondies, H., Ford, C.M., van Heeswijck, R. and Roustan, J.-P. (2002) Ethanol triggers grape gene expression leading to anthocyanin accumulation during berry ripening. Plant Science 163, 449-454.

 

El-Kereamy, A., Chervin, C., Roustan, J.-P., Cheynier, V., Souquet, J.-M., Moutounet, M., Raynal, J., Ford, C., Latche, A., Pech, J.-C. and Bouzayen, M. (2003) Exogenous ethylene stimulates the long-term expression of genes related to anthocyanin biosynthesis in grape berries. Physiologia Plantarum 119, 175-182.

 

DeBolt, S., Hardie, W.J., Tyerman, S.D. and Ford, C.M. (2004) Composition and synthesis of raphide crystals and druse crystals in berries of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon: Ascorbic acid as precursor for both oxalic and tartaric acids as revealed by radiolabelling studies. Aus. J. Grape and Wine Research 10, 134-142.

 

Mookerjee, S., Guerin, J., Collins, G., Ford, C. and Sedgley, M. (2005) Paternity analysis using microsatellite markers to identify pollen donors in an olive grove. Theor. Appl. Genet. 111, 1174-1182.

 

Offen, W., Martinez-Fleites, C., Yang, M., Kiat-Lim, E., Davis, B.G., Tarling, C.A., Ford, C.M., Bowles, D.J. and Davies, G.J. (2006) Structure of a flavonoid glucosyltransferase reveals the basis for plant natural product modification. The EMBO Journal 25, 1396–1405.

 

DeBolt, S., Cook, D.R. and Ford, C.M. (2006) L-Tartaric acid synthesis from vitamin C in higher plants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 103, 5608-5613.

 

Franks, T.K., Powell, K.S., Choimes, S., Marsh, E., Iocco, P., Sinclair, B.J., Ford, C.M., van Heeswijck, R.J. (2006) Consequences of transferring three sorgum genes for secondary metabolite (cyanogenic glucoside) biosynthesis to grapevine hairy roots. Transgenic Research 15, 181 -195.

 

DeBolt, S., Melino, V.J. and Ford, C.M. (2007) Ascorbate as a biosynthetic precursor in plants. Ann. Bot. 99, 3-9.

 

deSouza, E.M., Pedrosa, F.O., Wassem, R, Ford, C.M. and Yates, M.G. (2007) Genes involved in Sec-independent membrane targeting of hydrogenase in Azotobacter chroococcum. Res. Microbiol. 158, 272.

 

Robinson, L.H., Healy, P., Stewart, D.C., Eglinton, J.K., Ford, C.M. and Evans, D.E. (2007) The identification of a barley haze active protein that influences beer haze stability: The genetic basis of a barley malt haze active protein. J. Cereal Sci. 45, 335-342.

 

Harris, V., Ford, C.M., Jiranek, V. and Grbin, P.R. Dekkera and Brettanomyces growth and utilisation of hydroxycinnamic acids in synthetic media. (2008) Appl. Microbiol. Biotech. 78, 997-1006.

 

DeBolt, S., Ristic, R., Iland, P and Ford, C.M. (2008) Altered light interception reduces grape berry weight and modulates organic acid biosynthesis during development. Hort. Sci. 43, 957-961.

 

Wirthensohn, M.G., Chin_, W.L., Franks, T., Baldock, G., Ford, C.M. and Sedgley, M. Characterising the flavour phenotypes of almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.) kernels. J. Hort. Sci. Biotechnol. 83, 462-468.

 

Franks, T.K., Yadollahi, A., Wirthensohn, M.G., Guerin, J.G., Kaiser, B.N., Sedgley, M. and Ford, C.M. (2008) A seed-coat cyanohydrin glucosyltransferase is associated with bitterness in almond (Prunus dulcis Mill) kernels. Functional Plant Biology 35, 236-246.

 

Low, L.L. O’Neill, B., Ford, C., Godden, J., Gishen, M. and Colby, C. (2008) Economic evaluation of alternative technologies for tartrate stabilisation of wines. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 43, 1201-1216.

 

Harris, V., Ford, C., Jiranek, V. and Grbin, P. (2009) Survey of enzyme activity responsible for phenolic off-flavour production by Dekkera  and Brettanomyces yeast. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. Appl. Microbiol. Biotech. 81, 1117-1127.

 

Wheeler, S., Loveys, B., Ford, C. and Davies, C. The relationship between the expression of abscisic acid biosynthesis genes, accumulation of abscisic acid and the promotion of Vitis vinifera L. berry ripening by abscisic acid. Aus. J. Grape Wine Res. Accepted for publication 25 Nov. 08.

 

Wu, S.-B., Tavassolian, I., Rabiei, G., Hunt, P., Wirthensohn, M., Gibson, J.P., Ford, C.M. and Sedgely, M. (2009) Mapping SNP-anchored genes using high-resolution melting analysis in almond. Mol. Genet. Genomics. Published online 14 June 2009. Doi: 10.1111/j.1755-0238.2009.00045.x

 

Melino, V.J., Soole, K.L. and Ford, C.M. A method for determination of fruit-derived ascorbic, tartaric, oxalic and malic acids, and its application to the study of ascorbic acid catabolism in grapevines. Aus. J. Grape Wine Res. Published online 21 July 09. Doi: 10.1111/j.1755-0238.2009.00062.x

 

Sweetman, C, Deluc, L.G., Cramer, G.R., Ford^, C.M. and Soole^, K.L. (2009) Regulation of Malate Metabolism in Grape Berry and Other Developing Fruits. Phytochemistry. Accepted for publication 08 August 2009.

 

Professional Interests

In addition to teaching and research activities, I have acted as the Postgraduate Coordinator for research students within the Department of Horticulture, Viticulture and Oenology (since 2004, the Discipline of Wine and Horticulture). In this time almost 100 PhD and Masters students have passed through the Department/Discipline. In May 2006 I was appointed Associate Dean (Postgraduate) for the Faculty of Sciences, with responsibility for postgraduate coursework programs and Higher Degree (Research) student matters within the faculty.

 

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 8 Sep 2009