Global Council for Innovation in Rapeseed and Canola
Members' Directory
Last name :
KING
First name :
Kevin
Entrance year :
2025
Occupation :
Research Scientist
Address :
Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ Harpenden / United Kingdom
Main fields of interest :
- Crop protection
Professional experience : * Kevin is a plant pathologist whose work combines both applied and molecular approaches to investigate diseases that threaten food security and natural ecosystems. He has researched major diseases in crops (for example, septoria tritici blotch of wheat, leaf scald of barley, light leaf spot of oilseed rape) and in trees (ash dieback, sudden oak/larch death). His areas of expertise include aerobiology, applied plant pathology (field and lab), bioinformatics, crop protection, diagnostics development, fungicide resistance screening, microbiology, microscopy and molecular plant pathology. Kevin currently works on a range of projects relating to aerobiology, fungicide resistance and plant pathology. These projects include the development of molecular diagnostics for rapid in-field detection of different pathogen species and fungicide resistance mechanisms.
* Current Research Focus:
- Aerobiology and novel sampling technologies
- Invasive fungal pathogens
- Fungicide resistance
- Metagenomics (monitoring the whole ‘aerobiome’)
- Molecular diagnostics and genomics
- Pathogen population biology
Education : * PhD in Genetics - University of Nottingham (2013)
* BSc Hons Biology Royal Holloway University of London (2008)
Selected publications : * For full list of publications, please see : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9928-1353
* King KM*, Canning GGM & West JS* (2024) minION sequencing of fungi in Sub-Saharan African air, and a novel LAMP assay for rapid detection of the tropical phytopathogenic genus Lasiodiplodia. Pathogens.
* King KM*, Barr L, Bousquet L, Canning GGM, Glaab A, Ritchie F, Kildea S, Fraaije BA, West JS (2024) Evolution of decreased sensitivity to azole fungicides in western European populations of Plenodomus lingam (Phoma stem canker on oilseed rape). Plant Pathology.
* King KM*, Canning G, Kang X, Liu J, Wu M, West JS (2023) Indirect evidence from mating type ratios for the role of sexual reproduction in European and Chinese populations of Plenodomus biglobosus (blackleg of oilseed rape). Pathogens.
* King KM* & West JS (2022) Detection of the Brassica Phoma pathogens Plenodomus biglobosus subclades ‘brassicae’ and ‘canadensis’ on wasabi, and ‘canadensis’ in Europe. European Journal of Plant Pathology.
* King KM*, Bucor DE, Ritchie F, Hawkins NJ, Kakzmarek AM, Duan Y, Kildea S, West JS & Fraaije BA (2021) Fungicide resistance status and chemical control options for the Brassica pathogen Pyrenopeziza brassicae. Plant Pathology. In press.
* King KM*, Eyres GJ*, West JS, Siraf C, Matusinsky P, Canning GGM, Bateman GL, Fraaije BA & Dyer PS (2021) Development of multiplex and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for rapid species and mating-type identification in Oculimacula acuformis and O. yallundae, causal agents of eyespot disease of cereals. Phytopathology. Submitted. Full draft available.
* Carmody SM*, King KM*, Ocamb CM, Fraaije BA, West JS & du Toit LJ (2020) A phylogenetically distinct lineage of Pyrenopeziza brassicae associated with chlorotic leaf spot of Brassicaceae in North America. Plant Pathology, 69(3), 518-537.
* King KM^, Hawkins NJ, Atkins S, Dyer PS, West JS & Fraaije BA (2019) First application of loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for rapid identification of mating type in the heterothallic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. Mycoses, 62(9), 812-817.
* King KM^ (2019) Pathogen Population Biology Research can Reduce International Threats to Tree Health Posed by Invasive Fungi. Outlooks on Pest Management, 30(1), 5-9
