Population dynamics, epidemiology and evolutionary ecology of plant pathogens and pests

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This project will develop generic modelling methods applicable to the epidemiology and evolutionary ecology of plant diseases and pests. The methods will be applied to key diseases and insect herbivores in the UK and in developing countries, to provide new insight into their epidemiology, evolutionary ecology and population dynamics.

The central theme of the project is the application of parsimonious generic models to study the epidemiology of plant diseases and the population dynamics of plants and insect herbivores. The key areas are:

1. Epidemiology of plant pathogens.
The control of plant pathogens remains a high priority for growers both in the developed and the developing world. Models for plant pathogen epidemiology can help develop and optimise disease control methods. Main projects in this area will be:
a) Invasive plant pathogens: detection and control
b) Disease control using crop resistance and fungicides

2. Evolutionary ecology.
Any method of disease control inevitably imposes a selection pressure on the pathogen. This can cause the pathogen to evolve strains that are less prone to the control method. Models of these evolutionary processes can help define disease control methods that put a minimal selection pressure on the pathogen to evolve more harmful strains. Main projects in this area will be
a) Plant resistance and evolution within plant viruses.
b) Disease complexes determine the evolution of plant pathogen virulence.

3. Molecular mechanisms leading to phenotypes of plant defence mechanisms.
The mapping from genotype/molecular-interaction to the phenotype of a plant pathogen needs to be underpinned by a definition of the life-history components that constitute the relevant phenotypic characteristics for its epidemiology and evolutionary ecology e.g. resistance to a plant virus can be expressed through (i) reduced acquisition, (ii) reduced virus titre, (iii) reduced symptom expression.

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