RESEARCH

Research groups

Plant & Pathogen Biology

Cellular and molecular aspects of development, function and evolution

The Plant & Pathogen Biology Group supports world-class molecular-based research aimed at understanding the whole organism be it plant, animal or microbe. We use a variety of practical and analytic approaches to examine a range of systems to identify both principles common to all organisms and mechanisms that have evolved in specific circumstances. Our current scientific remit includes biotechnology, functional genomics, biomolecular materials, environmental biology, molecular evolution, molecular epidemiology, plant developmental and reproductive biology, population genetics, microbial biology, parasite biology, bioinformatics and computational biology, including systems modelling.

Self-incompatibility in Senecio squalidus: two incompatible pollen tubes on the surface of the stigma following self pollination. The pollen grain on the left has failed to germinate while the pollen grain on the right has germinated and produced a pollen tube that has penetrated the stigma before being inhibited with a characteristic swelling of the pollen tube tip accompanied by callose deposition. Arabidopsis root showing expression patterns of an auxin-responsive gene (in blue). A microarray - used to determine gene expression.