Group News
Next Generation Scientists
Dr Erin Stroud attended the Next Generation Scientist symposium led by the New Phytologist Foundation. The symposium was hosted at the University of Birmingham and Erin present a research poster
Vegetable Research Trust Fund
Recently, Dr Erin Stroud was awarding funding from the Vegetable Research Trust Fund to travel to the IS-MPMI conference held in Cologne, Germany.
"The funding from the Vegetable Research Trust Fund was used to attend and present a poster at the International Symposium of Microbial Plant Pathogen Interactions (IS-MPMI) in Cologne, Germany. During the conference, I presented a poster sharing research coming from the Grant Lab. This was well timed as we intend to submit the data presented for publication in August 2025 and so the feedback received at the conference, as well as the exposure gained from presenting, was beneficial to the paper publication process. Furthermore, presentations given at the conference were also of benefit to our research. Many of the talks shared unpublished data that has shaped how we will approach our research going forwards, as well as opening doors for new research avenues."
IS-MPMI
The Grant group joined IS-MPMI in Cologne, Germany (13-17th July). It wasa an amazing experience to meet worldwide experts in Plant Pathology.
Murray presented our work on JISS1, a novel jamosnate reporter, during a seminar.
Dr. Erin Stroud and Fay Bennett presented posters about their work on SAR (Systeming Acquired Resistance) and jasmonic acid.
Dr. Nestoras Kargios presented a poster about the bacterial effector hopAM1 activity.
Laura Civolani presented a poster chloroplast proteins targeted during infection.
Lab retreat
In June, the Grant lab and the McKenna lab attended a joint lab retreat in Dartmoor National Park, Devon.
The retreat provided dedicated time to foster collaboration between labs, focus on paper and grant writing, and scope projects for the rest of the year and beyond.
Student Blogs
Shanita attends BSPP 2026
Reshma Ajith: URSS student joining us! Find more about her project.
PhD student Megan Lewis's post on her BSPP-sponsored trip to IS-MPMI congress at Rhode Island.
Effectors targeting chloroplast: Raven's
master project.
Bacteriocins to help brassicas: Robyn’s placement report.
Banana, Fusarium, and American singer-songwriter Anastacia
Science on the Hill
Associate Professor Emily Breeze presented her talk, "Defence in plants and its role in sustainability" at the Science on the Hill event.
These events are open to the public, so are a great way for our scientists to engage with the local community.
34th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR)
July 15th - 19th 2024
Dr Erin Stroud and Associate Professor Emily Breeze attended the 34th ICAR conference in San Diego, USA in July 2024.
Erin presented her research in an oral presentation titled "Jasmonic acid and abscisic acid modulate long-distance defence signalling in Arabidopsis thaliana" and Emily presented a poster on her research.
"The conference was an excellent opportunities to see the state of the field in Arabidopsis-based research. This was particularly beneficial for me as my research is transitioning from predominantly crop-focused to model plant species."
- Erin
More information about the ICAR conference can be found here
Tue 23rd July '24 | Conference
On October 22nd, Shanita John attended the inaugural Black in Plant Science (BiPS) UKConference at Cambridge University.
The BiPS Conference was held to gather Black researchers in UK Plant Science, highlight their contributions to science from the recent to distant past and provide an opportunity to cultivate the next generation of black plant scientists. The conference activities included keynote talks, creative workshops, networking and discussions sessions.
“It was a very inspiring conference. I got to learn about the contributions that researchers of black heritage are making to the progress of plant science, despite the unique challenges that they have had to overcome because of their heritage, while doing so. I certainly got some food for thought.”
- Shanita
Tue 29 Oct '24 | Conference
BSPP Conference 2024 in Oxford.
From 11-13rd of October 2023, Grant's group was present at the annual BSPP Conference in Oxford.
The group's work was exhibited during the poster session, with research from PhD student Fay Bennet, Shanita John and Senior Research Fellow Dr. Emily Breeze on display.
PhD student Laura Civolani gave a 10 mins presentation during the PH Gregory Prize, from the title "Chloroplast immunity: a neglected but promising mechanism to enhance sustainable agriculture".
Mon 23 Sept '24 | Conference
Headlines
- The Elizabeth Creak Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Sophien Kamoun
- Murray has been re-elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
- £1.5m Crop Research Centre Opens at the University of Warwick.
- International collaboration identifies new molecular targets in crop resistance.
- Murray comments in Science|Business on the UK gearing up to diverge from EU on targeted genetic modifications in farming
Jim Brewster Scholarship
Laura has recently received the Jim Brewster Scholarship, awarded to a School of Life Sciences PhD student in their second year of research working on crop improvement.
Dr. Brewster worked in the National Vegetable Research Station (NVRS) at Wellesbourne, from 1974 to 1990. He was a plant physiologist and was considered a worldwide expert in onions. His book 'Onions and Other Vegetable Alliums' is still a reference for many researchers.
To read more about the Jim Brewster, the scholarship and previous winners you can click here.
You can find information on Laura's project here.
Thur 1 Feb '24 | Scholarship
PhD Students Laura and Megan visit Professor Kim in Shanghai.
"It was amazing to visit Kim's group and learn new techniques that will be definitely useful for my PhD project. The group expertise has given me exciting ideas for my future work! As well as being a great scientific opportunity it was a good moment to visit the city and try new food".
- Laura
"It was an exciting experience, we would like to thank Professor Kim and CAS center for hosting us during this period, as well as BBSRC for funding the collaboration".
- Megan
Fri 27 Oct '23 | Collaboration
Group Presents Advances in Xanthomonas Disease Research at Elsoms Open Days
On the 11-12th October 2023 members of Murray Grant’s group attended the Elsoms Open days in Lincolnshire. The group showcased their research on Xanthomonas diseases of brassicas, maize, strawberry, and watercress with a focus on disease diagnostics and resistance breeding. It was a great opportunity to engage with industry and growers and many an interesting conversation was had around gene editing and sustainable disease control. A highlight was being able to see the huge diversity of vegetable varieties Elsoms offer, we even got to taste some at lunch – delicious!
Fri 20 Oct '23 | Open Day
Grant Group Attends BSPP Conference in Birmingham
From the 6-8th of September 2023, Murray, along with a cohort of PhD students and Postdoctoral Research Fellows from the University of Warwick, attended the British Society for Plant Pathology Conference in Birmingham. Murray gave a talk entitled Are we really CCin it all, or just TIRribly blinded? Cross-talk between plant disease resistance proteins. Highlights from the talk included work undertaken by PhD students Megan Lewis and Nestoras Kargios and Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Alice Flint.
The group's work was also exhibited during the poster session, with research from Dr Laura Baxter, Laura Civolani, Megan Lewis, and Sara Abdelsayed on display.
Wed 13 Sep '23 | Conference
Post-Docs and PhDs attend the MBPP Early Careers Conference
Several members of the group attended this year's MBPP Early Career Meeting 2023, in Birmingham on the 5th of September. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Shannon Greer won one of the prizes available for her talk. Shannon presented her work researching Xanthomonas in Brassicas.
[I] had a great time meeting fellow ECRs and learning about their amazing plant pathology esearch at #MBPP23. Over the moon to have received a prize (and 🧢!!! ) for my oral presentation. Can’t wait for more great science at British Society for Plant Pathology.
- Dr Shannon Greer
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Ana Dominguez-Ferreras also gave a talk on her research on the Hpa effector localising to stress granules enhancing plant performance after heat treatment. PhD students Megan Lewis, Sara Abdelsayed and Research Fellow Dr Saïd El-Hassan all presented posters on their work.
Mon 11 Sep '23 | Conference
Murray and Laura attended the Chloroplast Biology Conference
PhD student Laura presented a poster on her research into chloroplast immunity at the Chloroplast Biology Conference in Zürich, in June (2023). While there, as well as sharing research, Laura managed to explore the local area and enjoy the warm weather.
“It was a great opportunity to listen to great talks from experts in the field, learning new approaches and networking. I definitely recommend a short train journey to join the amazing view from Uetliberg”
If you want to find out more about Laura's project, visit the group members page. If you want more information about the conference, view the organisers' website.
Mon 10 Jul '23 | Conference
Previous News
Plant Health Week webinar for the Bacterial Plant Diseases Programme
The third annual National Plant Health Week has been running from 8-14th May. The week of action is designed to raise awareness and increase engagement in plant health. The week coincides with the FAO'sInternational Day of Plant Health(12th May 2023).
As part ofPlant Health Week(2023), Murray provided some background onXanthomonasspp. and the potential impact of the pathogen, he also presented some of theXanthomonas Threatsresearch, including launching the newPhytoBacExplorer.
PhytoBacExplorer is under active development. The beta release contains a database forXanthomonaswith phylogenetics functionality, with plans to add more pathogens and functionality very soon.
You can find out more and watch other talks from the Bacterial Plant Diseases Programme webinar for National Plant Health Weekhere.
17 May '23 | Feature
Laura, our PhD student, wrote an article entitled “Barley and lesion mimic mutants” in this month's issue of Biological Sciences Review.
Biological Sciences Review is a magazine that makes current research accessible to students, with articles from a wide range of biological disciplines with a particular focus on A-level related topics.
“When I knew that Biological Sciences Review was looking for article proposals I decided to submit my idea, based on my Master‘s project on barley and lesion mimic mutants.” Laura said “it was really interesting writing an article for other students! I have managed to gain first-hand experience; I now appreciate how much work there is behind a publication of an article”.
7 Apr '23 | Feature
Nestoras and Laura Present at MIBTP Symposium
On 25thMarch, our PhD students Nestoras and Laura attended theMIBTP symposiumLink opens in a new window, at Harper Adams University - one of the 5 universities involved in the program.
Both presented part of their project: in particular Nestoras, 3rd-year student, gave a 3 minute talk “Pseudomonas syringae DC3000 effector HopAM1 reconfiguring ETI responses” and Laura, 2nd-year student, presented a poster “Chloroplast immunity: a neglected mechanism to enhance sustainable agriculture?”. It was an amazing opportunity to share their achievements and discuss their progress with all the cohort!
To find out more about the MIBTP PhD programme and the PhD projects they have available,click this link.
28 Mar '23 | Feature
Xanthomonasresearchers visit Ethiopia
In January, research Fellow Shannon and PhD student Sadik were hosted by the Southern Agricultural Research Institute in Hawassa, Ethiopia as part our
Xanthomonas threatsandemerging “tree” pathogenresearch themes.
Alongside Ethiopian collaborators, the pair collected samples and isolated DNA fromXanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum(Xcc).Xcccauses BananaXanthomonasWilt and is a particularly big problem for the Ethiopian orphan crop, enset. Shannon and Sadik are aiming to sequence the DNA they collected in collaboration with the University of Exeter, FERA and, Southern Agricultural Research Institute.
content here
28 Mar '23 | Feature
Botanical University Challenge 2023
Botanical University Challenge (BUC) is an annual botany quiz established by Dr Jonathan Mitchley (University of Reading) and Professor Emeritus John Warren in 2021, with teams of university students from across the UK and Ireland competing for the title. There are four knockout rounds presented by “celebrity” guest chairs. In 2022 Warwick entered for the first time and, although the team didn’t win the quiz, they did win the best team name competition with “Pistils at Dawn”.
Warwick competed again this year (2023), represented by co-captains Jamie Pike (PhD Student, Grant Group) and Annabelle de Vries (PhD Student, Allaby Group), team members Stefania Luca (UG) and Richard Nakamura (PGT), and reserves Jemima Whiteway (UG) and Calista Kou (UG). They came 4th in the first round but were eliminated in round two, coming in 7th place. This year’s finals are part of the two-day student botany festival at the University of Nottingham, organised by the BUC planning team. The BUC covers all contestants' transport and accommodation costs!
16 Mar '23 | Feature
Retaining the ashes in the news
Watch Dr John Sidda discuss his research into ash dieback on BBC Midlands Today's Lunchtime News with David Gregory-Kumar below.
Some of this work was published in Scientific Reports: Diversity of secoiridoid glycosides in leaves of UK and Danish ash provide new insight for ash dieback management. Read more about retaining the ashes here.
28 Jan '21| Feature
A better way to 5 a day, an introduction to CRISPR
Have you always wondered how gene editing works and why it is worth a Nobel prize?
As part of the new Elizabeth Creak Horticultural Technology Centre launch, our PhD Student Megan Lewis has prepared a quick educational video explaining how the gene editing technology CRISPR can improve vegetable crops.
16 Feb '21 | Feature