William Adams III

Professor

william.adams@colorado.edu
303-492-2880
Ramaley C434 (office), Ramaley C460 (lab)
Adams Lab

Ph.D., Australian National University, 1987

Research Interests

We take an integrative approach to synthesize the ecology, physiology, and anatomy of plants in a comparative framework. We define our questions in the natural, changing environment and follow the answers to the molecular or ultra-structural level. A unifying theme of our studies is the question of how plants survive and thrive in their natural environment and what mechanisms are responsible for the acclimation and adaptation of plants to extreme environmental conditions. We identify the physiological and structural traits (and hopefully the associated genes) that protect plants, and particularly their ability to collect solar energy, perform photosynthesis, and distribute sugars throughout the plant. We compare these characteristics among plant species with contrasting growth patterns and acclimation strategies.

Recent Publications

Adams WW III, Watson AM, Mueh KE, Amiard V, Turgeon R, Ebbert V, Logan BA, Combs AF, Demmig-Adams B (2007) Photosynthetic acclimation in the context of structural constraints to carbon export from leaves. Photosynthesis Research, in press < doi : 10.1007/s11120-006-9123-3>

Amiard V, Demmig-Adams B, Mueh KE, Turgeon R, Combs AF, Adams WW III (2007) Role of light and jasmonic acid signaling in regulating foliar phloem cell wall ingrowth development. New Phytologist 173 : 722-731 < doi : 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01954.x>

Demmig-Adams B, Adams WW III (2006) Photoprotection in an ecological context: the remarkable complexity of thermal dissipation. New Phytologist 172 : 11-21 < doi : 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01835.x>

Zarter CR, Demmig-Adams B, Ebbert V, Adamska I, Adams WW III (2006) Photosynthetic capacity and light harvesting efficiency during the winter-to-spring transition in subalpine conifers. New Phytologist 172 : 283-292

Adams WW III, Zarter CR, Mueh KE, Amiard V, Demmig-Adams B (2006) Energy dissipation and photoinhibition: a continuum of photoprotection. In B Demmig-Adams, WW Adams III, AK Mattoo (eds) Photoprotection, Photoinhibition, Gene Regulation, and Environment. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, Volume 21. Springer, Dordrecht , pp. 49-64

Zarter CR, Adams WW III, Ebbert V, Adamska I, Jansson S, Demmig-Adams B (2006) Winter acclimation of PsbS and related proteins in the evergreen Arctostaphylos uva-ursi as influenced by altitude and light environment. Plant, Cell and Environment 29 : 869-878 < doi : 10.1111/j.1365-3040.2005.01466.x>

Amiard V, Mueh KE, Demmig-Adams B, Ebbert V, Turgeon R, Adams WW III (2005) Anatomical and photosynthetic acclimation to the light environment in species with differing mechanisms of phloem loading. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 102 : 12968-12973 <www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0503784102>

Adams WW III, Zarter CR, Ebbert V, Demmig-Adams B (2004) Photoprotective strategies of overwintering evergreens. BioScience 54 : 41-49

Adams WW III, Demmig-Adams B (2004) Chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool to monitor plant response to the environment. In GC Papageorgiou, Govindjee (eds) Chlorophyll a Fluorescence: A Signature of Photosynthesis. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, Volume 19. Springer, Dordrecht , pp. 583-604

Adams WW III, Demmig-Adams B, Rosenstiel TN , Brightwell AK , Ebbert V (2002) Photosynthesis and photoprotection in overwintering plants. Plant Biology 4 : 545-557

Demmig-Adams B, Adams WW III (2002) Antioxidants in photosynthesis and human nutrition. Science 298 : 2149-2153

Demmig-Adams B, Adams WW III (2000) Harvesting sunlight safely. Nature 403 : 371-374

Adams WW III, Demmig-Adams B, Logan BA, Barker DH, Osmond CB (1999) Rapid changes in xanthophyll cycle-dependent energy dissipation and photosystem II efficiency in two vines, Stephania japonica and Smilax australis , growing in the understory of an open Eucalyptus forest. Plant, Cell and Environment 22 : 125-136