Job Title
Professor
Department
Life Sciences
Phone
+44 (0)2476 575028
Email
Web Link
Research Interests
Plant viruses are a major constraint limiting crop production worldwide, particularly in underdeveloped regions. Withdrawal of pesticide active ingredients is likely to exacerbate problems in developed countries. Plant viruses are responsible for 47% of new/emerging infectious diseases of plants (fungi 30%, bacteria 16%).
Current Research Interests:
Our group has a diverse research programme ranging from fundamental research through translational to very applied research directly relevant to growers.
- Plant - virus interactions, particularly Turnip mosaic virus - Brassica and Arabidopsis interactions
- Identifying, characterising, mapping and understanding the mechanism of plant resistance genes and identifying their viral determinants with a view to developing durable resistance to potyviruses
- Understanding virus - virus interactions in plants
- Plant virus diversity
- Plant - virus co-evolution in wild plants
- Plant viruses transmitted by fungi and protists and the vectors themselves
Biography
John studied Applied Biology at Leeds University and then went on to a co-operative award PhD at Rothamsted Experimental Station (now Rothamsted Research) and Leeds University in Plant Pathology. During his PhD studies, John was awarded the Best Student Paper Award, from the Society of Nematologists at their meeting in Salt Lake City. This was followed by a Potato Marketing Board postdoctoral fellowship at Rothamsted. John joined HRI in 1983 and is currently group leader for the Plant Virus Interactions group. This group has a broad range of research projects from Applied, through Strategic to Fundamental, funded from a wide variety of sources. The underlying aim is to provide environmentally friendly sustainable disease control measures whilst at the same time reducing inputs.
John has served his field as a member of the Association of Applied Biologists, Virology Group Committee, secretary to the International Society for Horticultural Science, Vegetable Virus Working Group, SGM Virology Division Committee and NERC Peer Review College. He is also an editor for the Annals of Applied Biology and the European Journal of Plant Pathology. John is President Elect of the International Working Group for Legume and Vegetable Viruses.
John's group have had a number of products commercialised including germplasm possessing resistance genes to plant viruses and diagnostic reagents for detection of plant viruses and protists.
- Walsh, John A.. Avoid the slow burn in store. HDC News, Vol.149, pp. 18-19
- Hackenberg, Dieter, Asare-Bediako, Elvis, Baker, Adam R., Walley, Peter Glen, Jenner, Carol E., Greer, Shannon, Bramham, Lawrence, Batley, Jacqueline, Edwards, David, Delourme, Regine, Barker, Guy C., Teakle, Graham R., Walsh, John A., 2020. Identification and QTL mapping of resistance to Turnip yellows virus (TuYV) in oilseed rape, Brassica napus. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 133 (2), pp. 383-393
- Hammond, J., Adams, I., Fowkes, A., McGreig, S., Botermans, M., van Oorspronk, J., Westenberg, M., Verbeek, M., Dullemans, A., Stijger, C., Blouin, A., Massart, S., de Jonghe, K., Heyneman, M., Walsh, John A., Fox, A., 2020. Sequence analysis of 43-year old samples of Plantago lanceolata show that Plantain virus X is synonymous with Actinidia virus X and is widely distributed. Plant Pathology
- Asare-Bediako, Elvis, Jones, Julie E., Hambidge, Angela, Stevenson, Mark, Mead, Andrew, Jenner, Carol E., Walsh, John A., 2019. The incidence of Turnip yellows virus in oilseed rape crops (Brassica napus L.) in three different regions of England over three consecutive growing seasons and the relationship with the abundance of flying Myzus persicae. Annals of Applied Biology
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Michelmore, Richard, Coaker, Gitta, Bart, Rebecca, Beattie, Gwyn, Bent, Andrew, Bruce, Toby, Cameron, Duncan, Dangl, Jeff, Dinesh-Kumar, Savithramma, Edwards, Rob, Eves-van den Akker, Sebastian, Gassmann, Walter, Greenberg, Jean, Harrison, Richard, He, Ping, Hanley-Bowdoin, Linda, Harvey, Jagger, Huffaker, Alisa, Hulbert, Scot, Innes, Roger et al, 2017. Foundational and translational research opportunities to improve plant health. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 30 (7), pp. 515-516
- Jannat, Shopan, Mou, Haipeng, Zhang, Lili, Zhang, Changtong, Ma, Weiwei, Walsh, John A., Hu, Zhongyuan, Yang, Jinghua, Zhang, Mingfang, 2017. Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B-beta (eIF2B ß), a new class of plant virus resistance gene. The Plant Journal, 90 (5), pp. 929-940
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Afonso, Claudio L., Amarasinghe, Gaya K., Bányai, Krisztián, Bào, Yimíng, Basler, Christopher F., Bavari, Sina, Bejerman, Nicolás, Blasdell, Kim R., Briand, François-Xavier, Briese, Thomas, Bukreyev, Alexander, Calisher, Charles H., Chandran, Kartik, Chéng, Jiasen, Clawson, Anna N., Collins, Peter L., Dietzgen, Ralf G., Dolnik, Olga, Domier, Leslie L., Dürrwald, Ralf et al, 2016. Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales : update 2016. Archives of Virology, 161 (8), pp. 2351-2360
- Sánchez, Flora, Manrique, Pilar, Mansilla, Carmen, Lunello, Pablo, Wang, Xiaowu, Rodrigo, Guillermo, López-González, Silvia, Jenner, Carol E., González-Melendi, Pablo, Elena, Santiago F., Walsh, John A., Ponz, Fernando, 2015. Viral strain-specific differential alterations in Arabidopsis developmental patterns. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 28 (12), pp. 1304-1315
- Lydiate, D. J., Rusholme, Rachel L., Higgins, E. E., Walsh, John A., 2014. Genetic control of immunity to turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) pathotype 1 in Brassica rapa (Chinese cabbage). Genome, 57 (8), pp. 419-425
- Nellist, Charlotte F., Qian, Wei, Jenner, Carol E., Moore, Jonathan D., Zhang, Shujiang, Wang, Xiaowu, Briggs, William H., Barker, Guy C., Sun, Rifei, Walsh, John A., 2014. Multiple copies of eukaryotic translation initiation factors in Brassica rapafacilitate redundancy, enabling diversification through variation in splicing and broad-spectrum virus resistance. The Plant Journal, 77 (2), pp. 261-268
- Schwinghamer, Mark W., Schilg, Mark A., Walsh, John A., Bambach, Rodney W., Cossu, Rosa M., Bambridge, Judith M., Hind-Lanoiselet, Tamrika L., McCorkell, Bruce E., Cross, Peter, 2014. Turnip mosaic virus : potential for crop losses in the grain belt of New South Wales, Australia. Australasian Plant Pathology, 43 (6), pp. 663-678
- Qian, Wei, Zhang, Shujiang, Zhang, Shifan, Li, Fei, Zhang, Hui, Wu, Jian, Wang, Xiaowu, Walsh, John A., Sun, Rifei, 2013. Mapping and candidate-gene screening of the novel Turnip mosaic virus resistance gene retr02 in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L.). Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 126 (1), pp. 179-188
- Nguyen, Huy D., Tomitaka, Yasuhiro, Ho, Simon Y. W., Duchêne, Sebastián, Vetten, Heinrich-Josef, Lesemann, D.-E., Walsh, John A., Gibbs, Adrian J., Ohshima, Kazusato, 2013. Turnip mosaic potyvirus probably first spread to Eurasian brassica crops from wild orchids about 1000 years ago. PLoS One, 8 (2)
- Ho, Thien, Wang, Liang, Huang, Linfeng, Li, Zhigang, Pallett, Denise W., Dalmay, Tamas, Ohshima, Kazusato, Walsh, John A., Wang, Hui, 2010. Nucleotide bias of DCL and AGO in plant anti-virus gene silencing. Protein & Cell, Vol.1 (No.9), pp. 847-858
- Jenner, Carol E., Nellist, Charlotte F., Barker, Guy C., Walsh, John A., 2010. Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) is able to use alleles of both eIF4E and eIF(iso)4E from multiple loci of the diploid Brassica rapa. Molecular Plant - Microbe Interactions, Vol.23 (No.11), pp. 1498-1505
- Hartwright, Lucy M., Hunter, Paul J., Walsh, John A., 2009. A comparison of Olpidium isolates from a range of host plants using internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis and host range studies. Fungal Biology, Vol.114 (No.1), pp. 26-33
- Lewsey, Mathew, Surette, Monique, Robertson, Fiona C., Ziebell, Heiko, Choi, Sun Hee, Ryu, Ki Hyun, Canto, Tomas, Palukaitis, Peter, Payne, Tina, Walsh, John A., Carr, John P., 2009. The role of the Cucumber mosaic virus 2b protein in viral movement and symptom induction. Molecular Plant - Microbe Interactions, Vol.22 (No.6), pp. 642-654
- Haj Kassem, Amin A., Walsh, John A., 2008. Characterising resistance to Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) in Turnip (Brassica rapa rapa). Arab Journal of Plant Protection, Vol.26 (No.2), pp. 168-172
- Pallett, D. W., Cooper, J. I., Wang, H., Reeves, J., Luo, Z., Machado, R., Obermeier, C., Walsh, John A., Kearsey, M. J., 2008. Variation in the pathogenicity of two Turnip mosaic virus isolates in wild UK Brassica rapa provenances. Plant Pathology, Vol.57 (No.3), pp. 401-407
- Rusholme, Rachel L., Higgins, Erin E., Walsh, John A., Lydiate, Derek J., 2007. Genetic control of broad-spectrum resistance to turnip mosaic virus in Brassica rapa (Chinese cabbage). Journal of General Virology, Vol.88 (Part 11), pp. 3177-3186
- Walsh, J.A., Verbeek, M., 2012. Genus ? Varicosavirus. In Virus Taxonomy ? Ninth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, Elsevier, pp. 777-781
- Jenner, Carol E., Barker, Guy C., Walsh, John A., Hoffinger, B., Hammond-Kosack, K., Beaudoin, F., Kanyuka, K.. Exploiting eIF4E-based and associated broad-spectrum recessive resistance to potyviruses in dicots and monocots. 2nd BBSRC Innovation in Crop Science - exploitation of genetics for sustainability initiative grant holders workshop, Cirencester, England, 28-29 Jan 2009, Published in Crop Science Initiative outcomes
- Barker, Guy C., Jenner, Carol E., Walsh, John A., 2009. Possible role of Brassica rapa translation initiation factors in broad-spectrum resistance to Turnip mosaic virus. An International Conference: Advances in Plant Virology, Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate, UK, 1-3 April 2009, Published in Programme for An International Conference: Advances in Plant Virology 2009
- Asare-Bediako, Elvis, Jenner, Carol E., Stevens, M., Walsh, John A., 2009. The incidence and diversity of Turnip yellows virus (TuYV) in oilseed rape (Brassica napus) in the UK. An International Conference: Advances in Plant Virology, Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate, UK, 1-3 April 2009, Published in Programme for An International Conference: Advances in Plant Virology 2009
- Sanchez, F., Lunello, P., Mansilla, C., Martínez, F., Wang, Xiaow, Walsh, John A., Jenner, Carol E., Ponz, F., 2008. Disturbance of Arabidopsis thaliana development by a potyviral infection maps to the P3/p6k1 viral genomic region. 4th EPSO Conference, Toulon (Côte d?Azur), France, 22?26 June, 2008, Published in Proceedings of the 4th EPSO Conference ?Plants for Life"
- Walsh, John A., Jenner, Carol E., Bambridge, J.M., Rusholme, Rachel L., Hughes, S., Higgins, Erin E., Parkin, I.A.P, Barker, Guy C., Lydiate, Derek J., 2008. Genetic Resistance to Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) in Brassicas. Brassica 2008: 5th ISHS International Symposium on Brassicas and the 16th Crucifer Genetics Workshop, Lillehammer, Norway, 8 - 12 Sept, 2008, Published in Preceedings of the 5th ISHS International Symposium on Brassicas and the 16th Crucifer Genetics Workshop
- Obermeier, C., Hunter, Paul J., Machado, R., Ohshima, Kazusato, Kearsey, M. J., Walsh, John A., 2008. Plant ? virus co-evolution in wild brassicas. 3rd Conference of the International Working Group on Legume and Vegetable Viruses (IWGLVV), Ljubljana, Slovenia, 20th ? 23rd Aug, 2008, Published in Proceedings of the 3rd Conference of the International Working Group on Legume and Vegetable Viruses (IWGLVV)
- Carr, J.P., Lewsey, Mathew, Westwood, J., Ziebell, Heiko, MacLean, Daniel, Kleczkowski, A., Stevens, M., Walsh, John A., 2008. The effects of cucumber mosaic virus 2b protein on methyl jasmonate induced transcriptional responses and plant-aphid interactions in Arabidopsis. American Society for Virology 27th Annual Meeting, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Jul 12-16, 2008, Published in Proceedings of the 27th Annual Meeting of American Society for Virology
- Rusholme, Rachel L., Higgins, Erin E., Walsh, John A., Lydiate, Derek J., 2007. Broad-spectrum resistance to turnip mosaic virus in Brassica rapa (Chinese cabbage). International Conference, Genetic control of plant pathogenic viruses and their vectors: Towards new resistance strategies, El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz, Spain, 23-27 Nov 2008, Published in Proceedings of the Genetic control of plant pathogenic viruses and their vectors: Towards new resistance strategies
- Walsh, John A.. Brassica and Lettuce Propagation: Identifying means of killing clubroot and Olpidium resting spores in trays to avoid infection of transplants. Horticultural Development Company
- Walsh, John A., 2009. Reducing losses from virus-induced storage disorders of processing cabbage. Horticultural Development Company
- Walsh, John A., 2008. Devastating crop virus could be eradicated. University of Warwick
| Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
|---|---|---|---|
| MTA - DSMZ GmbH - polyclonal antibody against BWYV | Leibniz-Institut DSMZ | 15 Jan 2020 | 14 Jan 2025 |
| h20 SMARTPROTECT: SMART agriculture for innovative vegetable crop PROTECTion: harnessing advanced methodologies and technologies | European Commission | 01 Jan 2020 | 31 Dec 2022 |
| Genomics-led improvement of biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in mustard rape for economic and environmental sustainability | BBSRC | 01 Sep 2018 | 31 Aug 2021 |
| Developing integrated approaches for pest and disease control in horticultural field crops (IAPAD) | BBSRC | 01 Apr 2015 | 31 May 2020 |
| Deployment of durable, broad-spectrum resistance to Turnip mosaic virus into Brassica oleracea in sub-Saharan Africa | BBSRC | 01 Jan 2019 | 31 Dec 2019 |
| Exploiting new sources of broad-spectrum resistance to Turnip mosaic virus in brassicas (iCASE) | Sakata UK Ltd | 05 Oct 2015 | 04 Oct 2019 |
| Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network (VeGIN) extension 2017 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2017 | 31 Mar 2018 |
| CIRC training grant | BBSRC | 01 Oct 2011 | 30 Sep 2015 |
| Support towards 4 year BBSRC CIRC studentship (Max Newbert) travel/conferences only | Perry Foundation | 01 Oct 2011 | 30 Sep 2015 |
| Exploiting sources of resistance to turnip yellow virus for deployment in oilseed - CIRC proposal | BBSRC | 01 Sep 2011 | 31 Aug 2015 |
| The incidence of turnip yellow virus (TuYV) in over wintered cauliflower and brussel sprouts | AHDB (Formerly HDC) | 01 May 2010 | 30 Apr 2013 |
| Brassica and lettuce propagation: Scaling up means of controlling clubroot resting spores in trays to avoid infection of transplants. | AHDB (Formerly HDC) | 01 Apr 2011 | 31 Jan 2013 |
| Amendment to RLFJW0502 (26890) The time of infection of overwintered cauliflower and Brussels sprout by Turnip yellows virus (TuYV) and the potential of insecticides to control the virus (FV365a) | AHDB (Formerly HDC) | 01 Apr 2011 | 31 May 2012 |
| IF0157 Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network (VeGIN): Leafy vegetables and salads | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2009 | 31 Mar 2012 |
| Introgression of broad-spectrum resistance to turnip mosaic virus (Tumv) in to Brassica rapa | Syngenta Ltd | 01 Jan 2009 | 31 Dec 2011 |
| Studentship: Deploying virus resistance in brassicas and understanding the interaction between the viral VPg protein and brassica eIF4E and eIF(iso)4E proteins (CASE) | Syngenta Ltd | 01 Oct 2008 | 30 Sep 2011 |
| FV0160b / 13540 Reducing losses from Virus-induced storage disorders of processing cabbage | Horticultural Development Council | 01 Feb 2006 | 30 Jun 2010 |
| Brassica & Lettuce propagation: Identifying means of killing clubroot and olipidium resting spores | Horticultural Development Council | 01 Apr 2008 | 17 May 2010 |
| Exploiting eIF4E - based and associated broad spectrum recessive resistance to potyviruses in dicots and monocots. | BBSRC | 01 Apr 2007 | 31 Mar 2010 |
| Wild brassica screen for virus resistance (Wibsvir). Pre-breeding research to support sutainable farming of brassicas in the UK | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Jan 2009 | 31 Jan 2010 |
| IF0191 Wild brassica screen for virus resistance (wibsvir). Pre-breeding research to support farming of brassicas in the UK | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Jan 2009 | 30 Sep 2009 |
| Crop Improvement of Field Vegetables | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2004 | 31 Mar 2009 |
| Watercress: Optimising Zinc applications for controlling crook root disease and minimising zin discharges. | Horticultural Development Council | 01 Jan 2003 | 01 Sep 2004 |