Dr Andrea Harper

Research

Research Overview

The Harper Lab investigates the genetic factors that control how plants respond to stress and interact with their environment. We work on various species, focussing on traits that are important for ensuring food security, protecting the environment, or improving the sustainability of agriculture.

Working towards wheat sustainability

Wheat is one of the most important crops in the world, but as the population grows and the climate changes, we will need to develop more resilient, nutrient and water-efficient varieties. We are identifying landrace wheat lines with improved tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and heat, and developing cutting-edge techniques for the analysis of omics data to unpick the genetic and epigenetic control of these traits.

Ralstonia bacterial wilt

Ralstonia solanacearum is a bacterial pathogen of global importance, causing diseases such as bacterial wilt and potato brown rot. We are investigating sustainable ways to tackle this pathogen, including biocontrol with bacteriophages, and crop improvement using naturally resistant wild plant hosts

Understanding susceptibility to ash dieback disease

Ash dieback disease, caused by a fungal pathogen, is killing many of our ash trees. We are studying the genetics of ash trees to understand why a small proportion of them are able tolerate the fungus better than others.