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Harnessing microbiology to tackle global challenges

Professional headshot photo of Jonathan Jones

Prof Jonathan Jones

Group Leader

Research themes:
Plant-Microbe Interactions
Contact details:
jonathan.jones@tsl.ac.uk
Part of

Biography

Jonathan Jones (JJ) investigates plant immunity to disease. His team isolated and characterized many resistance (R) genes that encode plant immune receptors and revealed key insights into immune receptor mechanisms.

Jones laboratory currently investigates paired NLR immune receptor function. The Arabidopsis RPS4 and RRS1 genes encode an intracellular immune receptor complex that is required for recognition of bacterial effectors AvrRps4 and PopP2 via their interactions with the RRS1 WRKY DNA-binding “integrated decoy” domain. The Jones lab is investigating how recognition of effectors results in defense activation by the complex.

We also investigate novel resistance genes to the oomycete Phytophthora infestans that causes potato late blight. The Jones lab is isolating novel Resistance to P. infestans (Rpi) genes from wild diploid potatoes, notably Solanum americanum, source of Rpi-amr1 and Rpi-amr3. Rpi-vnt1 is the first such resistance gene deployed transgenically in commerce. To accelerate R gene cloning the Jones lab developed RenSeq, a method to define all the intracellular immune receptor sequences (the “NLRome”) of a plant of interest, to reveal receptor diversity and evolution. The Jones lab studies how Rpi-gene encoded NLR immune receptors detect pathogen molecules and activate defense, and also whether deployment of such genes in gene stacks provides durable crop disease resistance.