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Sarah Jane Gurr

Sarah Jane Gurr

Appointment

Fellow

Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities

About

Sarah Jane Gurr’s interest is in plant disease, with particular emphasis on fungal infestations and their global movement and control.

She has modelled movement, assessed global burden and commented on the impact of climate change on pathogen spread. Most recently, she has begun to build models to predict the movement and severity of specific fungal diseases, parametrizing the infection cycle, intercalating host resistance status and integrating this with climate data and time. She is also interested in the emergence of antifungal resistance, the synthesis of the fungal cell wall and in pathogenicity determinants.

Awards

  • Huxley Medal, Imperial College
  • President’s Medal, The British Mycological Society
  • Honorary Professor at Utrecht University
  • Senior Research Fellow, Somerville College Oxford
  • Research Fellow, James Hutton Institute

Relevant Publications

  • Fisher, M, Hawkins, N, Sanglard, D and Gurr, SJ (2018). Worldwide emergence of resistance to antifungal drugs challenges human health and food security. Science 360 739-742

  • Schuster, M, Martin-Udiroz, M, Higuchi, Y, Hacker, C, Steinberg, N, Gurr, SJ, Steinberg, G (2016) Cell wall-forming enzymes are co-delivered in the same vesicle for coordinated formation of the fungal cell wall. Nature Microbiology 1:16149

  • Bagchi, R, Gallery, RE, Gripenberg, S, Gurr, SJ, Narayan, N, Addis, CE, Freckleton, RP, and Lewis, OT (2014) Pathogens (fungi) and insect herbivores drive rainforest plant diversity and composition. Nature 506:85

  • Fisher, M, Henk, D, Briggs, C, Brownstein, J, Madoff, L, McCraw, S and Gurr, SJ, (2012) Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health Nature, 484:185

  • Spanu, P., et al (2010). Genome expansion and gene loss in powdery mildew fungi reveals trade-offs in extreme parasitism. Science 330:1543

Institution

University of Exeter

Department

Department of BioSciences

Education

  • ARCS, DIC, MA and PhD, Oxford
  • BSc, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

Country

United Kingdom

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