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James BrownJohn Innes CentreThere is a constant struggle between plants and their parasites: as plants evolve to become resistant to disease, parasites evolve to overcome that resistance. Consequently, crops in agriculture are exposed to a constantly changing population of different genotypes and species of parasites. My group’s research falls into two related parts. Firstly, we study processes by which plants and parasites coevolve to become adapted to one another. Secondly, we are researching ways of developing high-quality crop varieties which are more resistant to disease. We work on several diseases, as appropriate for the research in question. Most of our work is on fungal pathogens of cereals, especially powdery mildew of barley and wheat (Blumeria graminis) and septoria tritici blotch of wheat (Mycosphaerella graminicola) . In current projects, we are also studying ramularia leaf spot of barley (Ramularia collo-cygni) , yellow rust (or stripe rust) of wheat (Puccinia striiformis) , powdery mildew of cucurbits (Podosphaera fusca or P. xanthii) and Pseudomonas syringae on Arabidopsis. Our research on coevolution also makes use of mathematical and computer modelling.Last updated by James Brown, 10th June 2008 If your browser doesn't display the menu bar on the left, here's a link to the contents of my web site. |