Jonathan Cope

I am currently co-course leader for the BSc level course "Sustainable food production - challenges and cropping system solutions" (MX0146) as of 2024.

I am also a guest lecturer on the MSc level courses:

• "Experimental approaches in plant growth analysis and phenotyping" (BI1339), where I teach Basic Statistics (2022 ), Root Phenotyping (2022 ), and supervise the practical in Growth Dynamics (2023)
• "Sustainable Plant Production - from Molecular to Field Scale" (BI1295) where I teach Gene Pools and their Role in Breeding for Sustainability (2023-24)

My main research is on the Grogrund funded project "HeRo - Healthy Roots: Development of tools for the selection of robust cultivars in Swedish plant breeding, with focus on the root system", which assesses the root system architecture (RSA) of predominantly winter wheat (but also spring wheat, oats, OSR, and beans). We assess how the environment (the region and the preceding crop) affects the RSA of these plants, and how that, in turn, affects the nutirent accumulation and the microbial community.

Additionally I am involved in:

• The Ekhagastiftelsen funded "DIVERSOW- Increasing crop genetic DIVERSity to close the yield gap in Organic Wheat farming" which holistically assesses the reduced input benefits of incorporating landrace material in inter- and intra-cropping systems.
• The SLU Grogrund funded "Robust Wheat" which aims to develop robust wheat varieties that can thrive under diverse environmental conditions.
• The Novo Nordisk Foundation funded "N2CROP" project, aiming to use legume symbiotic nitrogen fixation as a basis for producing high-quality and nutritious plant protein in sustainable agri-food systems.

Previously I have been involved in:

• The Formas funded "Nutrient Efficient Wheat partnership (NEWp)" focused on early root growth, root to shoot ratio, and leaf nitrogen content during grain filling of spring wheat.

I have been working at the SLU (Department of Crop Production Ecology) as a Postdoktor/Forskare since Oct 2020. Prior to SLU I undertook my PhD at University of Aberdeen & The James Hutton Institute (2015-2019) with my dissertation entitled “Characterising Resilience and Resource Use Efficiency Traits from Scots Bere and Additional Landraces for Development of Stress Tolerant Barley”.

My MSc was undertaken at the University of East Anglia & The John Innes Centre (2013-2014), with my thesis evaluating pathogen interactions on Brachypodium. My BSc (Hons) was at the University of St Andrews (2009-2013), with my thesis investigating signiling activity of self-cleaving proteins in plant cells.

2020-2025: PhD Student, Lorena Guardia Velarde, Co-supervisor  

2020-2022: MSc Student, Co-supervisor

2022 - Ongoing: BSc and MSc level internships

Postdoktor/Forskare:

Guardia-Velarde L, Cope JE, Metzler H, Westerbergh A,  Weih M (2025). Same with less: a method to reduce destructive sampling to estimate nitrogen use efficiency components using allometric relationships in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum). Functional Plant Biology, 52:FP24201.

Cope JE, Berckx F, Galinski A, Lentz J, Nagel KA, Fiorani F, Weih M (2024). Precrop-treated Soil Influences Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Root System Architecture and its Response to Drought. Frontiers in Plant Science, 15:1389593.

Cope JE, Berckx F, Lundmark J, Henriksson T, Karlsson I, Weih M (2024). Clear effects on root system architecture of winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) from cultivation environment and practices. Scientific Reports, 14:11099.

Guardia-Velarde L, Liu H, Cope JE, Westerbergh A, Weih M (2023). Differential breeding targets in wheat influence non-target traits related to grain quality, but not crop nitrogen requirement. Frontiers in Agronomy, 5.

Doctorate:

Cope JE, Norton GJ, George TS, and Newton AC (2022). Evaluating Variation in Germination and Growth of Landraces of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Under Salinity Stress. Frontiers in Plant Science,  13:863069.

Cope JE, Norton GJ, George TS, and Newton AC (2021). Identifying potential novel resistance to the foliar disease ‘Scald’ (Rhynchosporium commune) in a population of Scottish Bere barley landrace (Hordeum vulgare L.). Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection, 128: 999–1012.

Amaro TMMM, Cope J, and Franco-Orozco B (2021). Current status of plant pathogens of agricultural importance for Colombia. A review. Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Hortícolas, 15:e12425.

Cope JE, Russell J, Norton GJ, George TS, and Newton AC (2020). Assessing the variation in Manganese Use Efficiency Traits in Scottish Barley Landrace Bere (Hordeum vulgare L.). Annals of Botany, 126: 289-300.

Bachelor's:

Roulston C, Luke GA, Felipe P, Ruan L, Cope J, Nicholson J, Sukhodub A, Tilsner J, and Ryan MD (2016). ‘2A‐Like’ Signal Sequences Mediating Translational Recoding: A Novel Form of Dual Protein Targeting. Traffic, 17: 923-939.

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