Staff Profile:Dr Rob Jackson

Name:

Dr Rob Jackson

Job Title:

Academic, AMS Building

Responsibilities:

Admissions tutor for BSc Medical Microbiology

Teaching:
Important Microbes
Specialised Groups of Bacteria

Areas of Interest:

Molecular Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Growing healthy plants and keeping disease at bay is imperative to maintain food production. My research interests are concerned with bacteria that colonise plants and affect plant health, either detrimentally (pathogens) or helpfully (plant growth promotion). I am interested in determining the mechanisms used by bacteria for causing disease and for promoting plant growth. Furthermore, how do bacteria evolve to new lifestyles – this is a particularly important question when considering the emergence of new pathogens from non-pathogenic genotypes.

My laboratory primarily uses Pseudomonas bacteria (including P. syringae and P. fluorescens) with model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, sugar beet and bean. Screening methods, such as in vivo expression technology (IVET) pioneered by Paul Rainey for P. fluorescens, are used to identify bacterial genes specifically upregulated in the plant environment – these genes are predicted to be important for the bacterium to colonise plants. A more recent development is the combination of suppressor mutagenesis with IVET (termed Suppressor-IVET or SPyVET) to examine the regulatory mechanisms controlling plant-inducible gene expression.

Genes identified in Pseudomonas bacteria are characterised to determine their role. These include type III protein secretion systems and effectors, which are essential components of the pathogens machinery for causing disease. Intriguingly, these systems are also found in P. fluorescens, although why this species carries these genes is unclear. I am also interested in how the bacterial genome is shaped by mobile DNA. This includes the analysis of plasmids, pathogenicity islands and transposable elements.

Collaborative Links:
Dr Dawn Arnold, UWE, Bristol, UK
Prof. John Mansfield, Imperial College, UK
Prof. Paul Rainey, University of Massey, New Zealand
Dr Boris Vinatzer, Virginia Tech, USA
Dr Marco Scortichini, C.R.A.-Istituto Sperimentale per la Frutticoltura, Italy
Dr Stefania Loreti, C.R.A.- Istituto Sperimentale per la Patologia Vegetale, Italy

Current Research Projects:

Regulation of plant-inducible genes in Pseudomonas
Examining why bacterial DNA repair enzymes are targets for insertion of mobile genetic elements?

New Book:

Plant Pathogenic Bacteria: Genomics and Molecular Biology

Conference:

The website for the 8th International Conference on Pseudomonas syringae and related pathogens in 2010 is under construction - keep checking for regular updates.

Research groups / Centres:

Microbiology research group

Publications:

Y

Jump to: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2003

Number of items: 31.

2011

• Bardaji, L., Añorga, M., Jackson, R. W., Martínez-Bilbao, A., Yanguas-Casás, N. and Murillo, J.ús. (2011) Miniature transposable sequences are frequently mobilized in the bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. PloS ONE, 6 (10). e25773. ISSN 1932-6203
• Arnold, D. L., Lovell, H. C., Jackson, R. W. and Mansfield, J. W. (2011) Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola: from ‘has bean’ to supermodel. Molecular Plant Pathology, 12 (7). pp. 617-627. ISSN 1464-6722
• Silby, M. W., Winstanley, C., Godfrey, S. A.C., Levy, S. B. and Jackson, R. W. (2011) Pseudomonas genomes: diverse and adaptable. FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 35 (4). pp. 652-680. ISSN 1574-6976
• Jackson, R. W., Vinatzer, B., Arnold, D. L., Dorus, S. and Murillo, J. (2011) The influence of the accessory genome on bacterial pathogen evolution. Mobile Genetic Elements, 1 (1). pp. 55-65. ISSN 2159-2543
• Godfrey, S. A. C., Lovell, H. C., Mansfield, J. W., Corry, D. S., Jackson, R. W. and Arnold, D. L. (2011) The stealth episome: suppression of gene expression on the excised genomic island PPHGI-1 from Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. PLoS Pathogens, 7 (3). e1002010. ISSN 1553-7374
• Jackson, R. W., Johnson, L. J., Clarke, S. R. and Arnold, D. L. (2011) Bacterial pathogen evolution: breaking news. Trends in Genetics, 27 (1). pp. 32-40. ISSN 0168-9525
• Amos, M. R., Sanchez-Contreras, M., Jackson, R. W., Munoz-Berbel, X., Ciche, T. A., Yang, G., Cooper, R. M. and Waterfield, N. R. (2011) Influence of the Photorhabdus luminescens phosphomannose isomerase gene, manA, on mannose utilization, exopolysaccharide structure, and biofilm formation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77 (3). pp. 776-785. ISSN 0099-2240

2010

• Godfrey, S.A.C., Mansfield, J.W., Corry, D.S., Lovell, H.C., Jackson, R.W. and Arnold, D.L. (2010) Confocal imaging of pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola colony development in bean reveals reduced multiplication of strains containing the genomic island PPHGI-1. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 23 (10). pp. 1294-1302. ISSN 0894-0282
• Knight, C.G., Zhang, X.X., Gunn, A., Brenner T., T., Jackson, R., Giddens, S.R., Prabhakar , S., Zitzmann, N. and Rainey, P.B. (2010) Testing temperature-induced proteomic changes in the plant-associated bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 2 (3). pp. 396-402. ISSN 1758-2229
• Green, S., Studholme, D.J., Laue, B.E., Dorati, F., Lovell, H., Arnold, D., Cottrell, J.E., Bridgett, S., Blaxter, M., Huitema, E., Thwaites, R., Sharpe, P.M., Jackson, R. and Kamoun, S. (2010) Comparative genome analysis provides insights into the evolution and adaptation of Pseudomonas syringae pv. aesculi on Aesculus hippocastanum. PloS ONE, 5 (4). ISSN 1932-6203
• Lovell, H. C., Jackson, R. W., Mansfield, J. W., Godfrey, S. A. C., Hancock, J. T., Desikan, R. and Arnold, D. L. (2010) In planta conditions induce genomic changes in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. Molecular Plant Pathology, 12 (2). pp. 167-176. ISSN 1464-6722

2009

• Lovell, H. C., Mansfield, J. W., Godfrey, S. A. C., Jackson, R. W., Hancock, J. T. and Arnold, D. L. (2009) Bacterial evolution by genomic island transfer occurs via DNA transformation in planta. Current Biology, 19 (18). pp. 1586-1590. ISSN 0960-9822
• Silby, M. W., Cerdeno-Tarraga, A. M., Vernikos, G. S., Giddens, S. R., Jackson, R. W., Preston, G. M., Zhang, X. X., Moon, C. D., Gehrig, S. M., Godfrey, S. A. C., Knight, C. G., Malone, J. G., Robinson, Z., Spiers, A. J., Harris, S., Challis, G. L., Yaxley, A. M., Harris, D., Seeger, K., Murphy, L., Rutter, S., Squares, R., Quail, M. A., Saunders, E., Mavromatis, K., Brettin, T. S., Bentley, S. D., Hothersall, J., Stephens, E., Thomas, C. M., Parkhill, J., Levy, S. B., Rainey, P. B. and Thomson, N. R. (2009) Genomic and genetic analyses of diversity and plant interactions of Pseudomonas fluorescens. Genome Biology, 10 (5). p. 16. ISSN 1474-760X
• Aslam, S.N., Erbs, G., Morrissey, K.L., Newman, M.-A., Chinchilla, D., Boller, T., Molinaro, A., Jackson, R.W. and Cooper, R.M. (2009) Microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP) signatures, synergy, size and charge: influences on perception or mobility and host defence responses. Molecular Plant Pathology, 10 (3). pp. 375-387. ISSN 1464-6722
• Metraux, J. P., Jackson, R. W., Schnettler, E. and Goldbach, R. W. (2009) Plant pathogens as suppressors of host defense. In: Plant Innate Immunity. Advances in Botanical Research, 51. Academic Press Ltd-Elsevier Science Ltd, London, pp. 39-89. ISBN 9780123748348
• Arnold, D.L., Godfrey, S.A.C. and Jackson, R.W. (2009) Pseudomonas syringae genomics provides important insights to secretion systems, effector genes and the evolution of virulence. In: Jackson, R.W. (ed.) Plant Pathogenic Bacteria: Genomics and Molecular Biology. Caister Academic Press, UK. ISBN 9781904455370

2008

• Aslam, S.N., Newman, M.-A., Erbs, G., Morrissey, K.L., Chinchilla, D., Boller, T., Jensen, T.T., De Castro, C., Ierano, T., Molinaro, A., Jackson, R.W., Knight, M.R. and Cooper, R.M. (2008) Bacterial polysaccharides suppress induced innate immunity by calcium chelation. Current Biology, 18 (14). pp. 1078-83. ISSN 1053-1144
• Arnold, D.L. and Jackson, R.W. (2008) Genomic islands in plant-pathogenic bacteria. In: Schmidt, H. and Hensel, M. (eds.) Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Evolution of Pathogenesis. Advances in Molecular and Cellular Microbiology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 137-158. ISBN 9780521862974
• Moon, C.D., Giddens, S.R., Zhang, X.-X. and Jackson, R.W. (2008) Molecular mechanisms underpinning plant colonization of a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium. In: Ahmad, I., Pichtel, J. and Hayat, S. (eds.) Plant-Bacteria Interactions. Strategies and Techniques to Promote Plant Growth. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmBH & Co., KGaA, Weinheim, Germany, pp. 111-128. ISBN 9783527319015

2007

• Arnold, D. L., Jackson, R. W., Waterfield, N. R. and Mansfield, J. W. (2007) Evolution of microbial virulence: the benefits of stress. Trends in Genetics, 23 (6). pp. 293-300. ISSN 0168-9525
• Giddens, S. R., Jackson, R. W., Moon, C. D., Jacobs, M. A., Zhang, X. X., Gehrig, S. M. and Rainey, P. B. (2007) Mutational activation of niche-specific genes provides insight into regulatory networks and bacterial function in a complex environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104 (46). pp. 18247-18252. ISSN 0027-8424
• Ma, Z., Smith, J. J., Zhao, Y., Jackson, R. W., Arnold, D. L., Murillo, J. and Sundin, G. W. (2007) Phylogenetic analysis of the pPT23A plasmid family of Pseudomonas syringae. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73 (4). pp. 1287-95. ISSN 0099-2240
• Matthijs, S., Tehrani, K. A., Laus, G., Jackson, R. W., Cooper, R. M. and Cornelis, P. (2007) Thioquinolobactin, a pseudomonas siderophore with antifungal and anti-pythium activity. Environmental Microbiology, 9 (2). pp. 425-34. ISSN 1462-2912

2006

• Jackson, R. W. and Giddens, S. R. (2006) Development and application of in vivo expression technology (IVET) for analysing microbial gene expression in complex environments. Infect Disord Drug Targets, 6 (3). pp. 207-40. ISSN 1871-5265
• Paynter, C.D., Salisbury, V.C., Arnold, D.L. and Jackson, R.W. (2006) The use of bioluminescence for monitoring in planta growth dynamics of a Pseudomonas syringae plant pathogen. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 115 (3). pp. 363-366. ISSN 0929-1873

2005

• Pitman, A. R., Jackson, R. W., Mansfield, J. W., Kaitell, V., Thwaites, R. and Arnold, D. L. (2005) Exposure to host resistance mechanisms drives evolution of bacterial virulence in plants. Current Biology, 15 (24). pp. 2230-2235. ISSN 0960-9822
• Jackson, R. W., Preston, G. M. and Rainey, P. B. (2005) Genetic characterization of pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 rsp gene expression in the phytosphere and in vitro. Journal of Bacteriology, 187 (24). pp. 8477-8488. ISSN 1098-5530
• Scortichini, M., Rossi, M. P., Loreti, S., Bosco, A., Fiori, M., Jackson, R. W., Stead, D. E., Aspin, A., Marchesi, U., Zini, M. and Janse, J. D. (2005) Pseudomonas syringae pv. coryli, the causal agent of bacterial twig dieback of Corylus avellana. Phytopathology, 95 (11). pp. 1316-1324. ISSN 0031-949X
• Joardar, V., Lindeberg, M., Jackson, R. W., Selengut, J., Dodson, R., Brinkac, L. M., Daugherty, S. C., DeBoy, R., Durkin, A. S., Giglio, M. G., Madupu, R., Nelson, W. C., Rosovitz, M. J., Sullivan, S., Crabtree, J., Creasy, T., Davidsen, T., Haft, D. H., Zafar, N., Zhou, L., Halpin, R., Holley, T., Khouri, H., Feldblyum, T., White, O., Fraser, C. M., Chatterjee, A. K., Cartinhour, S., Schneider, D. J., Mansfield, J., Collmer, A. and Buell, C. R. (2005) Whole-genome sequence analysis of pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola 1448A reveals divergence among pathovars in genes involved in virulence and transposition. Journal of Bacteriology, 187 (18). pp. 6488-6498. ISSN 0021-9193
• Rivas, L. A., Mansfield, J., Tsiamis, G., Jackson, R. W. and Murillo, J. (2005) Changes in race-specific virulence in pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola are Associated with a chimeric transposable element and rare deletion events in a plasmid-borne pathogenicity island. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71 (7). pp. 3778-3785. ISSN 0099-2240

2003

• Arnold, D. L., Pitman, A. and Jackson, R. W. (2003) Pathogenicity and other genomic islands in plant pathogenic bacteria. Molecular Plant Pathology, 4 (5). pp. 407-420. ISSN 1464-6722

This list was generated on Wed Feb 8 00:41:20 2012 GMT.

 

Other publications

Godfrey, S.A.C. and Jackson, R.W. (2006) Molecular characterisation of bacterial plant pathogens. In: Molecular Techniques for Soil and Rhizosphere Microorganisms. Edited by J. E. Cooper & J.S. Rao. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK.

Arnold. D.L., Pitman, A. and Jackson, R.W. (2003) Pathogenicity and genomic islands in plant pathogenic bacteria. Molecular Plant Pathology 4, 407-422.

Vivian, A., Murillo, J. and Jackson, R. (2001) The roles of plasmids in phytopathogenic bacteria: mobile arsenals? Microbiology 147: 763-780.

Original articles

Lovell, H.C., Mansfield, J.W., Godfrey, S.A.C., Jackson, R.W., Hancock, J.T. and Arnold, D.L. (2009) Bacterial Evolution by Genomic Island Transfer Occurs via DNA Transformation In Planta. Current Biology 19, 1586-1590.

Silby, M.W., Cerdeno-Tarraga, A.M., Vernikos, G.S., Giddens, S.R., Jackson, R.W. and 29 others (2009) Genomic and genetic analyses of diversity and plant interactions of Pseudomonas fluorescens. Genome Biology 10: R51.

Aslam, S.N., Erbs, G., Morrissey, K.L., Newman, M-A., Chinchilla, D., Boller, T., Molinaro, A., Jackson, R.W and Cooper, R.M. (2009) MAMPs: signatures, synergy, size and charge influence mobility, perception and host defence responses. Molecular Plant Pathology 10, 375-387.

Aslam, S.N., Newman, M-A., Erbs, G., Morrissey, K.L., Chinchilla, D., Boller, T., Jensen, T.T., De Castro, C., Ierano, T., Molinaro, A., Jackson, R.W., Knight, M.R. and Cooper, R.M. (2008) Bacterial polysaccharides suppress induced innate immunity by calcium chelation. Current Biology 18, 1078-1083.

Giddens, S.R., Jackson, R.W., Moon, C.D., Jacobs, M.A., Zhang, X-X., Gehrig, S. and Rainey, P.B. (2007) Mutational activation of niche-specific genes provides insight into regulatory networks and bacterial function in a complex environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 104: 18247-18252.
Featured in the research highlights of Nature Reviews Microbiology and in Faculty of 1000.

Ma, Z., Smith, J.J., Zhao, Y., Jackson, R.W., Arnold, D.L. Murillo, J. and Sundin, G. (2007) Phylogenetic Analysis of the pPT23A Plasmid Family of Pseudomonas syringae. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73: 1287-1295.

Matthijs, S., Tehrani, K. A., Laus, G., Jackson, R., Cooper, R.M. and Cornelis, P. (2007) Thioquinolobactin, a Pseudomonas siderophore with anti-fungal and anti-Pythium activity. Environmental Microbiology, 9: 425-434.

Paynter, C.D. Salisbury, V.C., Arnold, D.L. and Jackson, R.W. (2006) The use of bioluminescence for monitoring in planta growth dynamics of a Pseudomonas syringae plant pathogen. European Journal of Plant Pathology 115: 363-366.

Jackson, R.W., Preston, G.M., and Rainey, P.B. (2005) Genetic characterisation of Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 rsp gene expression in the phytosphere and in vitro. Journal of Bacteriology 187: 8477-8488.

Pitman, A.R., Jackson, R.W., Mansfield, J.W., Kaitell, V., Thwaites, R. and Arnold, D.L. (2005) Exposure to host resistance mechanisms drives evolution of bacterial virulence in plants. Current Biology 15:2230-2235.

Scortichini, M. Rossi, M.P. Loreti, S., Bosco, A., Fiori, M., Jackson, R.W., Stead, D.E., Aspin, A., Marchesi, U., Zini, M. and Janse, J.D. (2005) Pseudomonas syringae pv. coryli (pv. nov.), the causal agent of bacterial twig dieback of Corylus avellana L. Phytopathology, 95:1316-1324.

Joardar, V., Lindeberg, M., Jackson, R.W. and 28 other authors. (2005) Whole-genome sequence analysis of Pseudomonas syringae pv phaseolicola 1448A reveals divergence among pathovars in genes involved in virulence and transposition. Journal of Bacteriology 187: 6488-6498.

Rivas, L.A., Mansfield, J., Tsiamis, G., Jackson, R.W., and Murillo, J. (2005) Changes in race-specific virulence in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola are associated with a chimeric transposable element and rare deletion events in a plasmid-borne pathogenicity island. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71:3778-3785.

Jackson, R.W., Mansfield, J.W., Ammouneh, H., Dutton, L.C., Wharton, B., Ortiz-Barredo, A., Arnold, D.L., Tsiamis, G., Sesma, A., Butcher, D., Boch, J., Kim, Y.J., Martin, G.B., Tegli, S., Murillo, J. and Alan Vivian (2002) Location and activity of members of a family of virPphA homologues in pathovars of Pseudomonas syringae and P. savastanoi.Molecular Plant Pathology 3: 205-216.

Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W., Fillingham, A.J., Goss, S.C., Taylor, J.D., Mansfield, J.W. and Vivian, A. (2001) Highly conserved sequences flank avirulence genes: isolation of novel avirulence genes from Pseudomonas syringae pv pisi. Microbiology 147: 1171-1182.

Arnold D.L., Gibbon, M.J., Jackson, R.W., Wood, J.R., Brown, J., Mansfield, J.W., Taylor J.D. and Vivian,A. (2001) Molecular characterization of avrPphD, a widely-distributed gene from Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola involved in non-host recognition by pea (Pisum sativum). Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 58: 55-62.

Jackson, R.W., Mansfield, J.W., Arnold, D.L., Sesma, A., Paynter, C.D., Murillo, J., Taylor, J.D. and Vivian, A. (2000) Excision from tRNA genes of a large chromosomal region, carrying avrPphB, associated with race change in the bean pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. Molecular Microbiology 38: 186-197.

Yamamoto, S., Kasai, H., Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W., Vivian, A. and Harayama, S. (2000) Phylogeny of the genus Pseudomonas: intrageneric structure reconstructed from the nucleotide sequences of gyrB and rpoD genes. Microbiology: Pseudomonas Special Issue 146: 2385-2394.

Tsiamis, G., Mansfield, J.W., Hockenhull, R., Jackson, R.W., Sesma, A., Athanassopoulos, E., Bennett, M.A., Stevens, C., Vivian, A., Taylor, J.D. and Murillo, J. (2000) Cultivar-specific avirulence and virulence functions assigned to avrPphF in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola, the cause of bean halo blight disease. EMBO Journal 19: 3204-3214. Specified as a paper of "Outstanding Interest" by Nimchuk, Rohmer, Chang and Dangl (2001) Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 4:288-294.

Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W. and Vivian, A. (2000) Evidence for mobility of an avirulence gene, avrPpiA1, between the chromosome and plasmids of races of Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. Molecular Plant Pathology 1: 195-199.

Jackson, R.W., Athanassopoulos, E., Tsiamis, G., Mansfield, J.W., Sesma, A., Arnold, D.L., Gibbon, M.J., Murillo, J., Taylor, J.D. and Vivian, A. (1999) Identification of a pathogenicity island, which contains genes for virulence and avirulence, on a large native plasmid in the bean pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pathovar phaseolicola. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 96: 10875-10880. Specified as a "Landmark Paper" of "Outstanding Interest" by Kjemtrup, Nimchuk and Dangl (2000) Curr. Opin. Microbiology 3:73-78.

Arnold, D.L., Brown, J., Jackson, R.W. and Vivian, A. (1999) A dispensable region of the chromosome which is associated with an avirulence gene in Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. Microbiology 145: 135-141.

Cournoyer, B., Arnold, D., Jackson, R. and Vivian, A. (1996) Phylogenetic evidence for a diversification of Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi race 4 strains into two distinct lineages. Phytopathology 86: 1051-1056.

Useful links

The Sanger website for the Pseudomonas fluorescens genome

Site front page http://www.sanger.ac.uk/

P. fluorescens genome page

Pseudomonas - Plant Interaction