Laura Grenville-Briggs Didymus

I grew up in the English countryside, where i studied Applied Biology at the University of Bath. In my PhD studies at the University of Birmingham and the research institute Horticulture Research International I began to dive deeper into Eukaryotic microbes that behave like fungi but are genetically more closely related to brown algae, that is the oomycetes. Members of this group of microbes cause many devastating plant diseases such as late blight in potato and tomato as well as sudden oak death and are notoriously difficult to treat.

Oomycete and fungal diseases are major threats to food security globally.  My research focus is on oomycetes and fungi as plant pathogens and biocontrol agents and the interactions of these deleterious or beneficial microbes within plant-associated microbiomes. We work on crops including potato and sugar beet, where there is currently a very high pesticide burden in Sweden and globally and where we urgently need more sustainable disease control practices against oomycetes and fungi. The major oomycete diseases we focus on are potato late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans and sugar beet damping off and root rot caused by Aphanomyces cochlioides. The biocontrol agents that we work with are the understudied oomycetes Pythium oligandrum and Pythium periplocum and the well known fungus Trichoderma harzianum T22. Our work spans both fundamental and applied aspects from the lab to the field.

Breeding for Biologicals

In this project we are working with breeding companies, including Lantmännen and United Beet Seed, along with researchers at SLU (led by Magnus Karlsson) and Lund University (led by Allan Rasmusson) to determine and ultilise plant genetic factors associated with biocontrol in sugar beet and wheat. 

This project is funded by the SLU Grogrund Centre for Breeding of Food Crops.

Plant Health in relation to Microbial Influence

In this project we aim to gain new knowledge about the influence of the interplay between plant disease and other associated microbes in plant health and performance in an agriculturally relevant setting. By investigating interactions between potato and late blight disease caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans and the related beneficial oomycete Pythium oligandrum we are asking the questions: what role do pathogenic or beneficial microbes play in shaping plant microbiomes? We are currently investigating if P. infestans triggers systemic induced susceptibility and how P. oligandrum triggers systemic induced resistance, and what this might mean for plant health and for the evolution of the plant microbiome. We use a variety of advanced metabolomics and molecular techniques to answer these questions.

This project is funded by the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet.

Diversification with cover crops: sustainability in potato production (DisCoverCrop)

The European Union is committed to transforming its agri-food systems to be more environmentally sustainable, climate-friendly, and resilient. A key strategy for achieving these goals is the use of crop diversification, specifically the incorporation of winter cover crops into potato rotations. However, the benefits of cover crops for potato cultivation are not fully recognized or exploited in some countries, particularly in the major production areas of northwest Europe.

This project aims to address this gap by determining effective cover crop strategies for potato production in northwestern countries (EE, SE, NO, NL and DE) and providing evidence-based communication for their use. To achieve this, field experiments are conducted across different locations and climate conditions in research farms and through farmer-led field trials (living labs). These experiments evaluate both established cover crops and novel plants suitable as cover crops, assessing their impact on soil functions (including pathogen load), disease incidence, the integration of microbial biocontrol agents, plant performance, soil microbial community diversity, and potato yield.

This EU project is funded through the EU Agroecology Partnership via national funding, which in Sweden is provided by the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development, Formas.

How do oomycete plant pathogens shape plant microbiomes in agricultural systems?

In this project we are interested in how oomycetes affect plant microbiomes and their overall impacts on plant and microbiome health above and below ground. By investigating interactions between potato and late blight disease, (a primarily foliar disease) caused by P. infestans, damping off caused by Pythium ultimum and the related beneficial oomycete Pythium oligandrum we will ask the questions: what role do pathogenic or beneficial oomycetes play in shaping plant microbiomes? and how do these interactions impact health and performance in potato? We will also investigate what role effectors from P. infestans play in shaping or influencing plant microbial communities in potato. The knowledge gained can be used to guide the development of more sustainable disease control strategies in potato and other crops for the future.

This project is funded by the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development, Formas.

Course Leader, principal lecturer & examiner: BI1267 "Integrated Pest Management for Sustainable Production Systems" (15hp MSc course).

Lecturer: LB0108 “Agroecology basics” (15hp MSc course).

Lecturer: BI1380 “Urban Ecology for the development of sustainable living” (15hp MSc course).

2003 PhD in Microbial Genetics/Plant Pathology, University of Birmingham, UK

2011 PGCHE (60 credit MSc) in Higher Education Teaching, University of Aberdeen, UK

2012 Docent, Microbial Glycobiology, Royal institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden