David Cooke
@llewelyn68.bsky.social
Plant pathologist (all things oomycete - especially potato late blight); eDNA enthusiast; climber; runner; cyclist; views/opinions my own
Getting close to 19 Feb abstract deadline. Expect this to a great meeting, as ever.
📢 Calling all #eDNA folks!!
🧬 Abstract submission is open for the #UKEOF UKDNA Working Group Conference 2026 #UKDNAWG26!
🧬 Submit your Abstract via this link! forms.gle/epwnz5PFdrrt...
🧬 Abstract submission is open for the #UKEOF UKDNA Working Group Conference 2026 #UKDNAWG26!
🧬 Submit your Abstract via this link! forms.gle/epwnz5PFdrrt...
UKDNA-WG 2026 - Abstract submission form
The 2026 UKDNA-WG conference will be held on 13-15th April 2026 at the University of Sheffield, including a joint day with the Ecological Genetics Group on the 15th to explore the possibilities of how...
forms.gle
February 17, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Getting close to 19 Feb abstract deadline. Expect this to a great meeting, as ever.
Thanks to Adam Clarke @farmersweeklyuk.bsky.social for reporting @hutton.ac.uk FAB first sampling of EU43 clone of #Phytophthora infestans in UK.
Fungicide-resistant late blight strain detected in UK for first time - Farmers Weekly share.google/HJanHeYV5nB8...
Fungicide-resistant late blight strain detected in UK for first time - Farmers Weekly share.google/HJanHeYV5nB8...
Fungicide-resistant late blight strain detected in UK for first time - Farmers Weekly
The presence of a concerning potato late blight genotype has been confirmed in the UK for the first time, following its discovery in volunteer potatoes in
share.google
February 10, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Thanks to Adam Clarke @farmersweeklyuk.bsky.social for reporting @hutton.ac.uk FAB first sampling of EU43 clone of #Phytophthora infestans in UK.
Fungicide-resistant late blight strain detected in UK for first time - Farmers Weekly share.google/HJanHeYV5nB8...
Fungicide-resistant late blight strain detected in UK for first time - Farmers Weekly share.google/HJanHeYV5nB8...
England Wales 🏉. Comes to something when your aspirations fall to just scoring some points. Come on Wales! 🏴
February 7, 2026 at 5:54 PM
England Wales 🏉. Comes to something when your aspirations fall to just scoring some points. Come on Wales! 🏴
Thanks to many for flagging this great study from @mfseidl.bsky.social group. Love the way they use pangenome analysis to get a grip on the messy evolution of effectors in #Peronospora effusa. Would it work with almost 3x larger #Phytophthora infestans genome? Hope so.
#Plant pathogens secrete effectors to establish infections, but resistant crops select for resistance-breaking #pathogens. @mfseidl.bsky.social &co use #pangenome graph analyses of 19 resistance-breaking races of an #oomycete pathogen to identify several effectors @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4qA6nKC
February 3, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Thanks to many for flagging this great study from @mfseidl.bsky.social group. Love the way they use pangenome analysis to get a grip on the messy evolution of effectors in #Peronospora effusa. Would it work with almost 3x larger #Phytophthora infestans genome? Hope so.
Snowdrops on the North Esk at Edzell plus a raging torrent that is hopefully not snow melt!
February 1, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Snowdrops on the North Esk at Edzell plus a raging torrent that is hopefully not snow melt!
Looks a useful approach for analysis of more than one barcode PLUS an announcement of the expanded mtDNA rps10 gene database for oomycetes. Thanks @grunwald.bsky.social and team
To address often cumbersome workflows for single metabarcodes, Martha A. Sudermann et al. developed demulticoder, an R package automating the use of DADA2 to analyze data derived from multiple metabarcodes: https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-02-25-0043-FI
December 18, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Looks a useful approach for analysis of more than one barcode PLUS an announcement of the expanded mtDNA rps10 gene database for oomycetes. Thanks @grunwald.bsky.social and team
Sounds an interesting exploration of #Phytophthora threats to Seagrass. Hope a good student applies and makes headway.
Funded PhD Opportunity: Seagrass Disease Ecology
Explore how the pseudofungus Phytophthora gemini impacts Zostera marina and restoration success. Lab + fieldwork @thembauk.bsky.social @plymuni.bsky.social & OCT. Combine microbiology, ecology & restoration science 🌱
👉 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK439/p...
Explore how the pseudofungus Phytophthora gemini impacts Zostera marina and restoration success. Lab + fieldwork @thembauk.bsky.social @plymuni.bsky.social & OCT. Combine microbiology, ecology & restoration science 🌱
👉 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK439/p...
December 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Sounds an interesting exploration of #Phytophthora threats to Seagrass. Hope a good student applies and makes headway.
Another great Reith lecture on BBC R4 made me wonder if a moral-economic match-making of @rutgerbregman.com and @kateraworth.bsky.social would work out well? I reckon it would.
December 4, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Another great Reith lecture on BBC R4 made me wonder if a moral-economic match-making of @rutgerbregman.com and @kateraworth.bsky.social would work out well? I reckon it would.
Significant new paper out from the Syngenta team. Guiding blight management. #Euroblight #Phytophthora
New Mechanisms of Resistance to CAA and OSBPI Fungicides in Phytophthora infestans - Torriani - Plant Pathology - Wiley Online Library bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
New Mechanisms of Resistance to CAA and OSBPI Fungicides in Phytophthora infestans - Torriani - Plant Pathology - Wiley Online Library bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Significant new paper out from the Syngenta team. Guiding blight management. #Euroblight #Phytophthora
New Mechanisms of Resistance to CAA and OSBPI Fungicides in Phytophthora infestans - Torriani - Plant Pathology - Wiley Online Library bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
New Mechanisms of Resistance to CAA and OSBPI Fungicides in Phytophthora infestans - Torriani - Plant Pathology - Wiley Online Library bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Crossing a gloomy Forth Bridge en route to a more cheery British Potato event in Harrogate. Looking forward to speaking at Blight seminar organised by @gbpotato.bsky.social
Also catching up with friends and colleagues in industry to support UK farming and 🥔 production.
Also catching up with friends and colleagues in industry to support UK farming and 🥔 production.
November 18, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Crossing a gloomy Forth Bridge en route to a more cheery British Potato event in Harrogate. Looking forward to speaking at Blight seminar organised by @gbpotato.bsky.social
Also catching up with friends and colleagues in industry to support UK farming and 🥔 production.
Also catching up with friends and colleagues in industry to support UK farming and 🥔 production.
Really encouraging results on management of Willow Carrot aphid on celery with Aphidius parasitoid wasps on 'banker' plants of barley that boost natural populations. Talk by Jude Bennison (ADAS, UK) at #AAB_IPPM meeting. Figure @waspwoman.bsky.social would like to hear such +ve wasp news.
November 12, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Really encouraging results on management of Willow Carrot aphid on celery with Aphidius parasitoid wasps on 'banker' plants of barley that boost natural populations. Talk by Jude Bennison (ADAS, UK) at #AAB_IPPM meeting. Figure @waspwoman.bsky.social would like to hear such +ve wasp news.
Thanks for flagging this nice study by @hutton.ac.uk and other authors. Another trick up the sleeve of #Phytophthora to infect plant hosts
Novel insights into CAZY pathogenicity factor AA7 involved in plant immune-modulatory function: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Oomycetes manipulate plant innate immunity through galacturonide oxidases - Nature Communications
The oomycete Phytophthora infestans is a damaging crop pathogen. Here, the authors show that a group of P. infestans secreted enzymes play roles in penetration and colonization of host plants by oxidi...
doi.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Thanks for flagging this nice study by @hutton.ac.uk and other authors. Another trick up the sleeve of #Phytophthora to infect plant hosts
Woodpecker feast in Fife today
October 18, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Woodpecker feast in Fife today
Indeed, thanks for flagging. Some interesting points on challenges of weather, prices and pests and how @hutton.ac.uk is helping. Not sure about the claim that PCN introduced to manage blight. Will check with my nematologist colleagues on Monday.
Really nice to hear this on the potato research at JHI. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s...
Tax rises and tattie troubles?
Podcast Episode · Scotcast · 16/10/2025 · 33m
podcasts.apple.com
October 18, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Indeed, thanks for flagging. Some interesting points on challenges of weather, prices and pests and how @hutton.ac.uk is helping. Not sure about the claim that PCN introduced to manage blight. Will check with my nematologist colleagues on Monday.
Ian Toth speaking at the www.planthealthcentre.scot annual conference on summary of the years activities. Thanking Gerry Sadler and welcoming David Kenyon as Chief Plant Health Officer for Scotland.
October 7, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Ian Toth speaking at the www.planthealthcentre.scot annual conference on summary of the years activities. Thanking Gerry Sadler and welcoming David Kenyon as Chief Plant Health Officer for Scotland.
This needs more attention and traction. Endless unsustainable growth is not the answer for either people nor the planet. A focus on being 'better not bigger' should not hit profits if marketing is right.
Big Doughnutty News.
Just out in Nature: the all-new 2025 Doughnut. Transformed from a single-year snapshot to an annual global monitor of 21st century social & ecological thriving. Available to all in an open-access paper by @andrewlfanning.bsky.social and me. 🧵 1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Just out in Nature: the all-new 2025 Doughnut. Transformed from a single-year snapshot to an annual global monitor of 21st century social & ecological thriving. Available to all in an open-access paper by @andrewlfanning.bsky.social and me. 🧵 1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 2, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This needs more attention and traction. Endless unsustainable growth is not the answer for either people nor the planet. A focus on being 'better not bigger' should not hit profits if marketing is right.
It's that #potato harvest time of year again. Wishing the UK industry good yields and, more importantly, decent prices. At least the #lateblight pressure has been generally low in 2025.
September 20, 2025 at 2:37 PM
It's that #potato harvest time of year again. Wishing the UK industry good yields and, more importantly, decent prices. At least the #lateblight pressure has been generally low in 2025.
Reposted by David Cooke
Attention plant proteomics specialists: We are looking for a Head of our new Proteomics Unit at our international and dynamic Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology. @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social Applications are welcome until 30. Sept 2025: jobs.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/jobposting/8...
Head of Service Unit Proteomics
jobs.mpimp-golm.mpg.de
August 23, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Attention plant proteomics specialists: We are looking for a Head of our new Proteomics Unit at our international and dynamic Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology. @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social Applications are welcome until 30. Sept 2025: jobs.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/jobposting/8...
A very welcome Scottish berry campaign supported by @hutton.ac.uk alongside releases of our blackberry, raspberry and blueberry varieties. Berry berry good.
foodanddrink.scot/our-industry...
foodanddrink.scot/our-industry...
July 25, 2025 at 9:18 AM
A very welcome Scottish berry campaign supported by @hutton.ac.uk alongside releases of our blackberry, raspberry and blueberry varieties. Berry berry good.
foodanddrink.scot/our-industry...
foodanddrink.scot/our-industry...
Pleased to publish a @phytopathology.bsky.social paper with West Bengal State University demonstrating seed tubers as source of #lateblight #phytophthora epidemics in the Indian plains.
apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/epdf/10....
apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/epdf/10....
July 23, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Pleased to publish a @phytopathology.bsky.social paper with West Bengal State University demonstrating seed tubers as source of #lateblight #phytophthora epidemics in the Indian plains.
apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/epdf/10....
apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/epdf/10....
Interesting to see one of the other insect sampling suction towers. This one at @rothamsted.bsky.social Research
June 3, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Interesting to see one of the other insect sampling suction towers. This one at @rothamsted.bsky.social Research
A @hutton.ac.uk blog shows our contribution to the meeting of the UK Defra 2025 Pesticides National Action Plan to keep Integrated Pest Management at the heart of UK crop production
sefari.scot/blog/2025/05...
sefari.scot/blog/2025/05...
May 29, 2025 at 6:24 AM
A @hutton.ac.uk blog shows our contribution to the meeting of the UK Defra 2025 Pesticides National Action Plan to keep Integrated Pest Management at the heart of UK crop production
sefari.scot/blog/2025/05...
sefari.scot/blog/2025/05...
Great and challenging talk from Prof Bridget Emmett @ukceh.bsky.social on the urgent need to standardise soil sampling metrics. Lack of harmonisation impedes progress.
Day 2 #UKDNAWG25
Day 2 #UKDNAWG25
May 14, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Great and challenging talk from Prof Bridget Emmett @ukceh.bsky.social on the urgent need to standardise soil sampling metrics. Lack of harmonisation impedes progress.
Day 2 #UKDNAWG25
Day 2 #UKDNAWG25
#UKDNAWG25 panel discussion thought provoking end to the day. @ukdnawg.bsky.social
May 13, 2025 at 4:12 PM
#UKDNAWG25 panel discussion thought provoking end to the day. @ukdnawg.bsky.social
Applications of eDNA in forensics and separation of mixed samples presented by Lorna Dawson of @hutton.ac.uk at #UKDNAWG25
May 13, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Applications of eDNA in forensics and separation of mixed samples presented by Lorna Dawson of @hutton.ac.uk at #UKDNAWG25