Sam Henderson

Research Interests

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Plant Cell and Molecular Biology Receptors and Membrane Biology

Dr Sam Henderson

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

College of Science

Sam is a researcher with expertise in plant science, cell membrane biology, and ion channels. His first postdoctoral position was undertaken at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, investigating salinity tolerance in crop plants. He carried out further postdoctoral work at CSIRO, investigating the molecular basis of apomixis in plants. In 2019, he joined Andrea Yool’s team in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, to study the fundamental roles of human aquaporins. Aquaporins (AQPs) are channels that conduct water and small solutes across cell membranes. Our laboratory aims to understand the physiological role of water and ion conductivity of human AQPs in health and disease. We use a range of techniques including:• Recombinant protein production and purification• Patch-clamp electrophysiology• Two-electrode voltage clamp (TEVC) electrophysiology• Cell swelling assays• Cell culture• Microbiology• Advanced microscopy

Date Position Institution name
2019 - ongoing Postdoctoral Research Fellow University of Adelaide
2018 - 2019 Postdoctoral Scientist Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
2014 - 2017 Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Adelaide
2007 - 2010 Research Officer University of Adelaide
2006 - 2007 Technical Officer Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, University of Adelaide

Date Institution name Country Title
2014 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
2005 Flinders University Australia Bachelor of Biotechnology (Hons)

Year Citation
2025 Wu, Y., Henderson, S. W., Walker, R. R., Shelden, M. C., & Gilliham, M. (2025). Expression of the grapevine anion transporter ALMT2 in Arabidopsis root decreases shoot Cl¯/NO₃¯ ratio under salt stress. Journal of Experimental Botany, 76(11), 3088-3104.
DOI Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2024 Henderson, S. W., Nourmohammadi, S., & Hrmova, M. (2024). Protein Structural Modeling and Transport Thermodynamics Reveal That Plant Cation–Chloride Cotransporters Mediate Potassium–Chloride Symport. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25(23), 12955.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
2024 Nourmohammadi, S., Henderson, S. W., Ramesh, S. A., & Yool, A. J. (2024). Characterization of human Aquaporin ion channels in a yeast expression system as a tool for novel ion channel discovery. Bioscience Reports: molecular and cellular biology of the cell surface, 44(8), BSR20240542-1-BSR20240542-20.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
2023 Henderson, S. W., Nakayama, Y., Whitelaw, M. L., Bruning, J. B., Anderson, P. A., Tyerman, S. D., . . . Yool, A. J. (2023). Proteoliposomes reconstituted with human aquaporin-1 reveal novel single ion channel properties. Biophysical Reports, 3(1), 100100-1-100100-15.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC3
2022 Henderson, S. W., Nourmohammadi, S., Ramesh, S. A., & Yool, A. J. (2022). Aquaporin ion conductance properties defined by membrane environment, protein structure, and cell physiology. Biophysical Reviews, 14(1), 181-198.
DOI Scopus17 WoS15 Europe PMC13
2022 Wu, Y., Henderson, S. W., Walker, R. R., & Gilliham, M. (2022). Root-Specific Expression of Vitis vinifera VviNPF2.2 Modulates Shoot Anion Concentration in Transgenic Arabidopsis. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 1-13.
DOI Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC5
2022 Qiu, J., Henderson, S. W., Tester, M., Roy, S. J., & Gilliham, M. (2022). SLAH1, a homologue of the slow type anion channel SLAC1, modulates shoot Cl- accumulation and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana (vol 67, pg 4495, 2016). JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY, 73(18), 1 page.
DOI
2021 Chow, P. H., Cox, C. D., Pei, J. V., Anabaraonye, N., Nourmohammadi, S., Henderson, S. W., . . . Yool, A. J. (2021). Inhibition of the Aquaporin-1 Cation Conductance by Selected Furan Compounds Reduces Red Blood Cell Sickling.. Frontiers in pharmacology, 12, 1-13.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC6
2021 Qu, Y., Guan, R., Bose, J., Henderson, S. W., Wege, S., Qiu, L., & Gilliham, M. (2021). Soybean CHX-type ion transport protein GmSALT3 confers leaf Na⁺ exclusion via a root derived mechanism, and Cl⁻ exclusion via a shoot derived process. Plant, Cell and Environment, 44(3), 856-869.
DOI Scopus37 WoS34 Europe PMC28
2021 Zhou‐Tsang, A., Wu, Y., Henderson, S. W., Walker, A. R., Borneman, A. R., Walker, R. R., & Gilliham, M. (2021). Grapevine salt tolerance. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 27(2), 149-168.
DOI Scopus50 WoS50
2020 Munns, R., Day, D. A., Fricke, W., Watt, M., Arsova, B., Barkla, B. J., . . . Tyerman, S. D. (2020). Energy costs of salt tolerance in crop plants. New Phytologist, 225(3), 1072-1090.
DOI Scopus418 WoS372 Europe PMC217
2020 Wu, Y., Henderson, S. W., Wege, S., Zheng, F., Walker, A. R., Walker, R. R., & Gilliham, M. (2020). The grapevine NaE sodium exclusion locus encodes sodium transporters with diverse transport properties and localisation. Journal of Plant Physiology, 246-247, 153113-1-153113-11.
DOI Scopus18 WoS13 Europe PMC9
2020 Henderson, S. W., Henderson, S. T., Goetz, M., & Koltunow, A. M. G. (2020). Efficient crispr/cas9-mediated knockout of an endogenous phytoene desaturase gene in t1 progeny of apomictic hieracium enables new strategies for apomixis gene identification. Genes, 11(9), 1-16.
DOI Scopus9 WoS7 Europe PMC6
2018 Henderson, S., Dunlevy, J., Wu, Y., Blackmore, D., Walker, R., Edwards, E., . . . Walker, A. (2018). Functional differences in transport properties of natural HKT1;1 variants influence shoot Na⁺ exclusion in grapevine rootstocks. New Phytologist, 217(3), 1113-1127.
DOI Scopus67 WoS59 Europe PMC35
2018 Henderson, S., Wege, S., & Gilliham, M. (2018). Plant cation-chloride cotransporters (CCC): evolutionary origins and functional insights. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(2), 492-1-492-12.
DOI Scopus23 WoS19 Europe PMC12
2018 Walker, R., Blackmore, D., Gong, H., Henderson, S., Gilliham, M., & Walker, A. (2018). Analysis of the salt exclusion phenotype in rooted leaves of grapevine (Vitis spp.). Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 24(3), 317-326.
DOI Scopus10 WoS11
2017 Wege, S., Gilliham, M., & Henderson, S. (2017). Chloride: not simply a 'cheap osmoticum', but a beneficial plant macronutrient. Journal of Experimental Botany, 68(12), 3057-3069.
DOI Scopus125 WoS109 Europe PMC61
2017 Byrt, C., Zhao, M., Kourghi, M., Bose, J., Henderson, S., Qiu, J., . . . Tyerman, S. (2017). Non-selective cation channel activity of aquaporin AtPIP2;1 regulated by Ca²⁺ and pH. Plant, Cell and Environment, 40(6), 802-815.
DOI Scopus177 WoS158 Europe PMC131
2016 Li, B., Byrt, C., Qiu, J., Baumann, U., Hrmova, M., Evrard, A., . . . Roy, S. (2016). Identification of a stelar-localized transport protein that facilitates root-to-shoot transfer of chloride in arabidopsis. Plant Physiology, 170(2), 1014-1029.
DOI Scopus102 WoS89 Europe PMC67
2016 Qiu, J., Henderson, S., Tester, M., Roy, S., & Gilliham, M. (2016). SLAH1, a homologue of the slow type anion channel SLAC1, modulates shoot Cl⁻ accumulation and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Experimental Botany, 67(15), 4495-4505.
DOI Scopus92 WoS80 Europe PMC49
2015 Henderson, S., Wege, S., Qiu, J., Blackmore, D., Walker, A., Tyerman, S., . . . Gilliham, M. (2015). Grapevine and Arabidopsis cation-chloride cotransporters localize to the Golgi and trans-Golgi network and indirectly influence long-distance ion transport and plant salt tolerance. Plant Physiology, 169(3), 2215-2229.
DOI Scopus75 WoS65 Europe PMC42
2014 Henderson, S., Baumann, U., Blackmore, D., Walker, A., Walker, R., & Gilliham, M. (2014). Shoot chloride exclusion and salt tolerance in grapevine is associated with differential ion transporter expression in roots. BMC Plant Biology, 14(1), 273-1-273-18.
DOI Scopus94 WoS91 Europe PMC55
2013 Conn, S., Hocking, B., Dayod, M., Xu, B., Athman, A., Henderson, S., . . . Gilliham, M. (2013). Protocol: optimising hydroponic growth systems for nutritional and physiological analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana and other plants. Plant Methods, 9(4), 4.
DOI Scopus171 WoS162 Europe PMC124

Year Citation
2015 Henderson, S., & Gilliham, M. (2015). The "Gatekeeper" Concept: Cell-Type Specific Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Adaptation to Abiotic Stress. In R. Laitinen (Ed.), Molecular Mechanisms in Plant Adaptation (pp. 83-116). New Jersey: Wiley.
DOI Scopus22

Year Citation
2016 Byrt, C. S., Zhao, M., Kourghi, M., Bose, J., Henderson, S. W., Qui, J., . . . Tyerman, S. (2016). Charging up water transport with plant aquaporins permeable to ions. Poster session presented at the meeting of Combio2016. Brisbane, Australia.

Year Citation
2024 Henderson, S., Nourmohammadi, S., & Hrmova, M. (2024). Protein modelling and thermodynamics reveal that plant cation-chloride cotransporters mediate potassium-chloride symport.
DOI
Date Grant Title Investigators Funding Body
2020 - 2021

Replacing frog oocytes and animal antibodies in aquaporin research: Developing an animal-free analysis platform to assess human Aquaporin-1 channels involved in cancer cell migration.

 Henderson, SW; Yool AJ; Martinac B  The Medical Advances Without Animals (MAWA) Trust

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2015 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Functional Study of Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) Membrane Ion Transporters Related to Salt Tolerance Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Yue Wu

Date Role Membership Country
2010 - ongoing - Australian Society for Plant Scientists (ASPS) Australia

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