My research is focused on the origin and evolution of plant pathogens. We study populations of plant pathogens on wild and domesticated plant species in the Middle East. Our research, based on analyses of DNA sequence data from different pathogens of cereal crops, has shown that domestication and crop cultivation have been important drivers for the emergence and spread of plant pathogens. In ROOTS, we collaborate with the aDNAlaboratory and archaeobotanists to identify plant pathogens on ancient plant material and to characterise the genetic architecture of plant resistance genes in early domesticated species.

Keywords: Plant diseases, domestication, evolution, ancient DNA, genome analyses