Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

  • Welcome from Dale; Winter 2019-2020

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    In this edition of Advances, we look at the work of our Plant Heath ISP, and its impact, both now and into the future. We dip into how we’re using our knowledge to decarbonise agriculture, and how the diversity of plants and microbes can lead the way to a low carbon, sustainable future for agriculture, medicines and food

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  • 2020 Vision for Plant Health

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    Professor Mark Banfield, the recently appointed leader of the BBSRC-funded Institute Strategic Programme (ISP) for Plant Health at the John Innes Centre, gives an insight into his ambitions at the start of a landmark year in plant science

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  • With a little help from your friends

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    Plants stay healthy by fighting off the bad and buddying up with the good. By forming close relationships with other organisms plants gain a competitive advantage; for many this is essential for survival

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  • Plant immunity

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    Just like us, plants must survive against pathogen threats, while recognising beneficial microbes. Unlike us, plants lack a centralised immune system with special cells to fight disease. In plants, every cell must defend itself

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  • Xylella: a bacterial threat

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    New and emerging pathogens threaten crop production, forestry, commercial horticulture, as well as woodlands and broader biodiversity. Both environmental change, increased movement and trade of plants and plant materials around the globe further increase the risks of a plant pathogen spreading

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  • Rising from the ashes

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    For the past decade, the future has looked bleak for European ash trees. However the evidence emerging in Norfolk’s woodlands, combined with the latest scientific research suggests a brighter outlook

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  • Soil: the foundation of life on Earth

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    In 2014 Maria-Helena Semedo, Deputy Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation told a forum marking World Soil Day that we only have 60 years of farming left. As we learn more and as we witness the alarming rates of soil degradation and erosion across the globe it becomes clear that soil is more than dirt

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  • Stem rust lesions on wheat - Paul Fenwick, Limagrain UK Ltd

    New hope against an old enemy

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    PhD student Ngoni Kangara’s research focuses on stem rust, a major global disease of bread wheat and an ancient foe of the farmer. Early influences set him on a career fighting this problematic pathogen

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  • Awards & achievements

    Issue #32; Winter 2019-2020

    Scientists at the John Innes Centre are recognised for their contributions to the research community, both nationally and internationally

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