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Plant Disease Resistance


Our Research

Since 2016, Professor Murray Grant has been Elizabeth Creak Chair in Food Security at the University of Warwick.

Prof. Grant's group focuses on plant-microbe interactions, particularly host responses to pathogenic bacteria. Additionally, Murray's group studies the mechanisms underpinning biocontrol and applies various “omics” techniques (including transcriptomics and untargeted metabolomics) to study disease and disease resistance in essential plant species such as ash, enset and banana.

Please find out more about the specific projects here.

Group Members

For more information about current group members and projects, visit our group members page.

Contact Information

Feel free to contact Murray about potential student projects and collaborations.

  Email:

  Phone: 024 765 75136

  Twitter: @Muzzaphytopath

Group News

Grant Group attends this year's BSPP Conference in Birmingham. Shannon won a prize at the MBPP Early Careers Conference.

Murray and Laura head to Zürich for the Chloroplast Biology Conference. Find out more here.

Robyn writes about her visit to Scotland as part of the Xanthomonas Threats project.

Murray presents at the Plant Health Week webinar for the Bacterial Plant Diseases Programme

On 25th March, our PhD students Nestoras and Laura attended the MIBTP symposiumLink opens in a new window, at Harper Adams University

Murray has been re-elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Find out more here.

Link opens in a new winLaura, our PhD student, wrote an article entitled “Barley and lesion mimic mutants” on this month's issue of Biological Sciences Review.

Explore further. Delve into the captivating world of plant and agricultural sciences at the University of Warwick. Uncover our latest advancements and hear from the School of Life Science's researchers.

Recent Publications

For a list of full publications, please visit WRAP. 


  • The current status, challenges, and future perspectives for managing diseases of brassicas. Greer, et al., 2023.
  • Plant and prokaryotic TIR domains generate distinct cyclic ADPR NADase products. Bayless et al., 2023.
  • Broader functions of TIR domains in Arabidopsis immunity. Jacob et al., 2023
  • A tell tail sign: A conserved C-terminal tail-anchor domain targets a subset of pathogen effectors to the plant endoplasmic reticulum. Breeze et al., 2023
  • Phylogenomic Analysis Supports the Transfer of 20 Pathovars from Xanthomonas campestris into Xanthomonas euvesicatoria. Harrison et al., 2023.
  • Draft genome sequences for ten strains of Xanthomonas species that have phylogenomic importance. Harrison et al., 2023.
  • DNA extraction using the Qiagen 67563 MagAttract HMW DNA Kit. Grant et al., 2022.
  • Chloroplasts play a central role in facilitating MAMP‐triggered immunity, pathogen suppression of immunity and crosstalk with abiotic stress. Breen, et al., 2022.
  • First report of black rot caused by Xanthomonas nasturtii on watercress in Spain and Portugal. Lascelles, et al., 2022.
  • Cyclic ADP ribose isomers: Production, chemical structures, and immune signaling. Manik et al., 2022.