Fungal Plant Pathogens

Charles Lane is a senior plant pathologist at FSL. Ltd based in York with over 25 years experience in the diagnosis of fungal plant pathogens. Following a Ph.D. investigating a mycoparasite of the cultivated mushroom he joined the plant pathology laboratory in Harpenden before moving to Yorkshire in 1996. Since then he has predominantly worked on the identification of quarantine fungi such as Colletotrichum, Monilinia, Alternaria, Phytophthora and Hymenoscyphus. He helped found the U.K.'s largest commercial Plant Clinic providing diagnostic services to growers and consultants both in the UK and overseas. Currently, is developing and delivering plant health and biosecurity advice, guidance and training to a wide-range of stakeholders and citizen scientists. Paul Beales is a senior plant pathologist who works for the UK's plant health and seeds inspectorate. Completing his PhD at the University of Hertfordshire on Rhododendron powdery mildew, he took up the role of plant disease diagnostician at the Food and Environment Research agency (Fera science ltd.) before moving to the animal and plant health agency where he heads up its plant technical extension team. He is a specialist in both indigenous and non-indigenous plant pathogens, and has been involved with identifying, discovering, researching and publishing new pathogens from around the world. In his current role, he works closely with Defra, consulting on new plant pest and disease threats and raising awareness of plant health to the trade and public through publications, engagement and training activities. Having completed his MSc. in Crop Protection with the University of Bath and Rothamsted Research, Kelvin Hughes obtained a PhD in Molecular methods for the detection of fungal plant pathogens with the University of Bristol. He has developed international standards for molecular diagnosis of the EC plant pathogens Tilletia indica, Monilinia fructicola and Colletotrichum acutatum as well as real-time field assays used by the UK Plant Health inspection service for Phytophthora kernoviae and P. ramorum. He also established Fera's ISTA accredited seed health laboratory and has represented the UK on quality assurance panels for the European Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) and the International Standards Organisation (ISO). Having gained experience with numerous National Plant Protection Organisation including New Zealand MAF and the Kenyan Plant Health Inspection Service (KEPHIS), Dr. Hughes is currently Fera's Principal Plant Health and Seeds Inspector with national responsibility for the export of plants, plant products and seeds. Matthew J Ryan is Research Lead for Biological Resources at CABI and formerly curator of CABI's culture collection of 30000 living microbes. He is currently project manager for the UK Crop Microbiome Cryobank and works on a range of projects related to both the microbiome and the development of novel biobanking solutions. He has published widely in the fields of cryopreservation, microbiology and culture collections and currently has several external roles on national and international advisory groups, including the United States Culture Collection Network steering committee and the board of the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research.