The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. George's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About George
Positions and education:
2023 present Associate Head of School (Biology), School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of 50業子
2021 present Associate Professor of Plant and Fungal Biology,油School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of 50業子
2016 2021 Lecturer in Applied Biology and Programme Lead, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of 50業子
2012 油2016 Research Fellow, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter
2007 2012 Research Fellow, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter
2006 2007 Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Plant Science Group, IBLS, University of Glasgow
1999 2006 PhD,油University of Glasgow
1994 1999 B.Sc.(Hons), Genetics (With Work Placement)油University of Glasgow
Research interests:
Research in my group centres around油plant-pathogen interactions and油the use of complementary imaging modalities in plant stress biology. We focus on (1) understanding the cellular and molecular basis of rice blast disease and (2) non-invasive image-based diagnosis of plant disease and stress biology.
Rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae) kills enough rice each year to feed 60 million people. We are working to understand the basic processes of infection and use molecular and imaging-based techniques. We routinely use minimally invasive methods such as chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and confocal microscopy, which is allows us to explore in detail and with sensitivity, mechanisms of infection. In addition, we use molecular genetic manipulation (including CRISPR-Cas9) and image-based and molecular diagnostic techniques, which gives a complete toolkit to pursue a research programme in the whole organism and cell biology of plant pathogen interactions.油
Ongoing projects in the lab are (1) The role of the circadian clock in rice blast disease (Ciaran Griffin, UoP studentship), which has shown the importance of both the plant and fungal circadian clocks in determining disease outcome; (2) Fluorescence imaging for Nutrition and Disease (FIND) (Dr Naofel Aljafer and Mrs. Angela Harrop, ERDF, INTERREG funded), which is using plant chlorophyll imaging to give pre-symptomatic diagnosis of plant disease, which has implications for agriculture (3) The role of the chloroplast in plant immunity (Kokila Wickramanayake Pathirannahalage, PhD student).
In addition to our core research in plant pathology, the laboratory is also engaged in several funded collaborative projects (see grants and contracts).
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Grants awarded since coming to University of 50業子:
2024-2025 油UoP Lead Investigator (with Dr Trevor Grigg, RNA Agribio and Dr. Tom Pope, Harper Adams) RNAi control of cabbage stem flea beetle. UKRI Innovate Farming Innovation Programme, Feasibility Round 3 (贈208,000).
2024-2025 油 Knowledge Base Supervisor (with Prof. Mark Fitzsimons, UoP) Biostimulant formulations for agriculture in South Africa. UKRI Innovate African Agriculture KTP (贈250,000).
2021-2023油油油 Co- Investigator (with Dr. Kirsty Matthews Nicholass, Dr. Jon Ellis, Ciaran Griffin, PhD student, UoP) High-throughput screening to assist the genetic improvement of diverse fungi relevant to agriculture. Seale-Hayne Educational Trust (贈7,323).
2021 - 2023油油油Co-Investigator (PI, Professor Mark Fitzsimons, UoP) INTERREG "Recon Soil"
2021 - 2024油油油油Co-Investigator油(PI, Dr Jon Ellis, UoP), Wherefore the magic? Investigating the origin of psychedelic compounds in nature.油Levehulme Trust
2020 - 2024油油油Co-Investigator (PI, Professor Richard Thompson FRS., UoP) BIO-PLASTIC-RISK "Biodegradable Bioplastics Assessing Environmental Risk" ID: NE/V007556/1, NERC
2020 - 2022油油油Co- Investigator油(with Ciaran Griffin, PhD student) The metabolic inhibition of sporulation in the rice blast pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae.油Seale-Hayne Educational Trust.
2018 - 2021油油油Principal Investigator油Agritech Cornwall, FIND Project:油Image-based early diagnosis of plant health. European Regional Development Fund.
2018 - 2020油油油油Principal Investigator (with Dr Will Vevers)油Investigating the biocontrol of fungal pathogens using epiphytic bacteria from Abies nordmanniana.油Seale-Hayne Educational Trust.
2017 - 2019油油油Principal Investigator油Multi-scale imaging of pathogen-chloroplast interaction during rice blast disease progression.油Seale-Hayne Educational Trust.
2017 - 2021油油油油Principal Investigator / PhD油Supervisor油The role of circadian entrainment in rice blast disease.油Faculty of Science and Engineering, 50業子 University.
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External examiner:
2024 油 油 External Examiner PhD Megan Lewis, University of Warwick, UK
2023 油 油 External Examiner PhD Ana Lozano, University of Alicante, Spain
2020油油油油油University of Glasgow PhD external examiner
2020, 2021 University of Exeter MRes external examiner
Invited lectures:
2023 油Research seminar (via Zoom), Rajarata University, Sri Lanka
2022 油Research seminar (via Zoom), University of Basrah, Iraq
2022 油Research seminar (via Zoom), University of Kent, UK
2020油油Research seminar (via Zoom), University of Arkansas, USA
2020油油Research seminar (via Zoom), University of Alicante, Spain
2019油油Invited talk, GARNet Workshop: Advances in Plant Imaging, University of Warwick, UK.
2018油油Research seminar, University of York, UK
2017油油Research seminar, University of Warwick, UK
2016油油Research seminar, University of Alicante, Spain
2016油油Invited lecture series on advanced imaging, University of Alicante, Spain
2015油油Research seminar, University of Durham, UK.
2015油油Research seminar, Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, University of Nottingham, UK.
2015油油12th New Phytologist油workshop The apoplast as battleground for plantmicrobe interactions Gieen, Germany.
2015油油Research seminar, Institute of Phytomedicine, University of Bonn, Germany.
2014油油Society for Experimental Biology Presidents Medallist Talk (Education & PublicAffairs), Main Meeting, Manchester, UK.
2014油油Society for Experimental Biology, Careers Talk, SEB Main Meeting, Manchester, UK.
Conferences organised:
2017油油油油油油油油油油油油Co-chair, Light-sheet microscopy,油油RMS MMC Meeting , Manchester, UK
2017油油油油油油油油油油油油Co-chair, Imaging pathogenesis in plants,油SEB Main Meeting , Gothenburg, Sweden
2017油油油油油油油油油油油油Co-chair, The research and teaching nexus,油SEB Main Meeting , Gothenburg, Sweden
2016油油油油油油油油油油油Chair, Science with Impact Plenary Session,油SEB Main Meeting , Brighton, UK
2015油油油油油油油油油油油油Co-chair,油Innovations in undergraduate teaching Session,油SEB Main Meeting , Prague, Czech Republic
2014油油油油油油油油油油油油油油油Lead applicant and co-organiser:Undergraduates never do anything useful Workshop, University of Exeter.油(ASPB blog post covering油the event here: http://blog.aspb.org/2014/04/28/research-led-teaching-opportunities-for-early-career-researchers/)
2012油油油油油油油油油油油油Co-organiser, How to be a Great Teacher workshop, International Conference on Arabidopsis Research , Vienna, Austria
2011 2016油油油油油油油Co-organiser,油Exeter Imaging Network
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Supervised Research Degrees
I am currently Director of Studies for 2 PhD students:
Mrs. Kokila Wickramanayake Pathirannahalage (/staff/kokila-wickramanayake-pathirannahalage) who is working on chloroplastic changes in response to pathogen challenge.
Ms. Peggy McGroary () who is working with Dr. Dana Macgregor on control of gene expression in weeds using VIGS and VOX.
and one ResM student:
Mr. Mohit Biju who is working on an interdisciplinary project on nematode infections of scented narcissi with growers on the Isles of Scilly.
Teaching
I enjoy teaching and have a particular interest in research-led teaching. I currently teach on several plant and molecular biology modules in all undergraduate stages and lead the final year module, BIOL301(Z) Plant Biotechnology: Lectures on plant biotechnology, synthetic biology. Workshops on socioeconomic and ethical aspects, gene mining and GM/GE strategy.
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Contact George
A404, Portland Square, Drake Circus, 50業子, PL4 8AA
+44 1752 584487
george.littlejohn@plymouth.ac.uk