Catherine Kidner

Head of Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences

Undergraduate teaching

Course Organiser for Data Exploration in Biology 2

Course Organiser for Plant Evolution 4

 

Lecturer on:

Evolution and Ecology of Plants 3

Projects Skills in Plant Science 4

Plant growth and Development 4

Postgraduate teaching

Course Organiser for Plant Genome Diversity (MSc)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Current PhD students,  Principal supervisor:

Sebastián Giraldo Gómez starting Oct 2023

         The speciation process in Begonia, Funded by Darwin Scholarship

Charles Miller, started Oct 2021

         Pattens of gene duplication across Begoniacae, Self-funded

Lucy Turnbull, started Oct 2021

         Neo functionalisation in Begonia duplicated genes, Funded by EastBio DTP

Kelly Gonzalez started July 2020

         Biogeography of Inga, Funded by Columbian National PhD scholarship       

Thibauld Michel started April 2018 Passed Viva March 2023

         Population genetics of historical specimens, Funded by EU-DTP

Past PhD students supervised

Previous students as principal supervisor:

Cynthia Fan started Sept 2018 Passed Viva April 2023

         Genetics of leaf Shape in Begonia, Funded by Darwin Scholarship

Lucia Campos Dominguez (2016 – 2020) Darwin Scholarship

         Currently Post Doc with Darwin Tree of Life project

Katie Emelianova Started (2012 – 2016), BBSRC

         Currently MarieCurie Fellow at the University of Vienna

Mansour Abdullah (2012 -  2016) Kuwaiti Government

         Currently Assistant Professor at PAAET, Kuwait

Steven Wrigley (2010 - 2012) BBSRC *Left PhD

         Currently Wild Life Warden

Alex Twyford (2008 – 2012) BBSRC

         Currently Senior Lecturer at University of Edinburgh

Mobina Shaukat (2008 – 2012)

         Currently Lecturer in the University of Peshawar

Nicola Burton ( 2007 – 2012, maternity leave, then part-time)

         Currently senior scientist for horticulture with AHDB 

Saima Umbreen (2007- 2011, maternity leave)

         Currently Post-doc with Gary Loake University of Edinburgh

 

Research summary

Understanding Diversity

We are interested in determining the genetics underlying differences between species. We would like to know how many genetic changes and what type of changes determine differences in plant growth and form. A combination of classical genetics and new sequencing technologies is being used to link the variation in form to variation in the sequence and expression of genes. We are particularly interested applying these techniques to tropical species, as the tropics contain most of the world’s diversity but have been genetically understudied.

Current research interests

We are interested in the application of large scale comparative sequence analysis to understanding patterns of diversity. We use NGS to produce transcriptomes, genomes and phylogenies to explore the diversity of tropical plants. We use the resources of the living collections at RBGE for expression analysis and are using Hyb-Seq to mine genetic data from herbarium samples. Begonia is one of the largest angiosperm genera and well represented in flora across the tropics. Understanding the drivers and the results of speciation patterns in Begonia will help us understand tropical diversity. We have produced a genetic map, several transcriptomes, a reference genome and several draft genomes for the group and are using these to identify the genetics underlying species-level diversity patterns. Inga is a group of about 300 species of leguminous trees of the neotropics. It is cultivated as a shade tree in agro-forestry. We have been using Hyb-Seq to produce a well resolved phylogeny for the genus and are using comparative transcriptomics to identify traits associated with species-level variation, particularly in herbivore defence. Other groups We are interested all aspects of comparative genetics and genomics in underexplored plants.

Affiliated research centres

Project activity

Comparative genomics in Begonia

Understanding speciation in a mega-diverse genus

The fate of duplicated genes

Developing gene editing in Begonia

Current project grants

Crop Diversity GPU - Growing Plant Understanding, BBSRC BB/X019683/1 2023 (Co-I)
Does hybridisation promote tree species diversification in the Amazon? (NERC NE/V012258/1) April 2021 (Co-I)
SEFARI Training Grant for PhD networking (PI)

Past project grants

SEFARI ROF High-Performance Computing for Collaborative Science: Virtual Training and Discussion Workshop (2021) (Co-I)
UK Crop Diversity Bioinformatics Resource, BBSRC BB/S019669/1 (Co-I)
EU 4,062,03.52 EU Horizon 2020 DTP 765000 - Plant.ID (Co-I)
.Improving agroforestry and silvo-pastoral systems in Latin America by maximising species and genetic diversity of the multipurpose legume Inga Global Challenge Research Fund BB/P022898/1 (Co-I)
Capturing genes from Herbaria NBAF883 (PI held at RBGE)
Chemistry, taxonomy and diversification in tropical plants: a case study of Inga . Syntax, (Co-I, held at RBGE)
US National Science Foundation Dimensions of Biodiversity grant. Coexistence, herbivore host choice, and plant-herbivore evolution in the recently radiated and speciose neotropical tree genus, Inga. (Co-I, held at RBGE).
The genetic basis of tropical diversity BBSRC Grant BB/E019447/1 Nov 2007-Oct 2010 (PI, held at UoE). Supervision of Post-doc based at RBGE.
Comparative epigenomics of non-model organisms using DArTTM: Can pan-genome CpG methylation instability explain rapid floral evolution? CoSyst award March 2007 - 2009 (PI, RBGE)

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