Current Research

• Population biology of barley leaf blight pathogens, mainly Rhynchosporium secalis.
• Mechanisms of Rhynchosporium resistance in barley.
• Analysing epidemic spatial trends and local competition effects in heterogeneous vegetation.

Current Contract Research Activities

• Barley Pathology (WP1.4): Scottish Government - Profitable and Sustainable Agriculture - Plants.
• Sustainable Crop Systems (WP1.7): Scottish Government - Profitable and Sustainable Agriculture – Plants.
• Climate Change Cross-Cutting Theme SCRI Champion.
• Role of inoculum source in Rhynchosporium dynamics and epidemics on barley: BBSRC-LINK.
• Association Genetics of UK Elite Barley: BBSRC-LINK.
• Gene discovery/expression: Commercial.

Research History

• 2005-present: Principal Research Scientist, Plant Pathology Programme
  SCRI – Resistance to Rhynchosporium, and Ramularia in barley, gene deployment and pathogen variation.
• 2001-2005: Programme Leader/Co-Leader: Host-Parasite Co-Evolution
  SCRI – Resistance to Rhynchosporium in barley, variation in the pathogen populations and heterogeneous gene deployment.
• 1994-2001: Principal Research Scientist, Fungal and Bacterial Plant Pathology Department
  SCRI – Resistance to mildew and Rhynchosporium in barley, variation in the pathogen populations and resistance elicitors.
• 1985-1994: Senior Scientific Officer, Mycology and Bacteriology Department
  SCRI – Resistance to mildew in barley and variation in the pathogen populations.
• 1982-1985: Research Fellow, Department of Genetics, University of Birmingham, UK
  Genetics of Septoria nodorum.
• 1979-1982: PhD, Department of Genetics, University of Birmingham, UK
  Genetics of Puccinia striiformis and Septoria nodorum.
• 1977-1978: Research Assistant, Department of Plant Science, University of Western Ontario, Canada
  Genetics of Ustilago violacea.

Qualifications

• BSc hons (Agricultural Botany), Reading, UK, 1979
• PhD (Genetics), Birmingham, UK, 1982

External Duties

• Editor for Plant Pathology.
• Member of the Association for Crop Protection in Northern Britain Standing Committee and Programme Committee.
• UK Management Committee member for EU / ESF COST Action 860: Sustainable low-input cereal production: required varietal characteristics and crop diversity.
• TIBRE Arable Handbook.
• Scottish Society of Crop Research - Combinable and Energy Crops Committee.

Recent Publications

• Thirugnanasambandam, A., Wright, K.M., Whisson, S.C., Atkins, S.D., Newton, A.C. 2010. Infection of Rrs1 barley by an incompatible race of the fungus, Rhynchosporium secalis, expressing the green fluorescent protein. Plant Pathology (in press).
• Newton, A.C., Gravouil, C., Fountaine, J.M. 2010. Managing the ecology of foliar pathogens: ecological tolerance in crops. Annals of Applied Biology (in press).
• Newton, A.C., Fitt, B.D.L., Atkins, S.D., Walters, D.R., Daniell, T., 2010. Pathogenesis, mutualism and parasitism in the trophic space of microbe-plant interactions. Trends in Microbiology 18, 365-373.
• Newton, A.C., Duncan, J.M., Augustin, N.H., Guy, D.C., Cooke, D.E.L. 2010. Survival, distribution and genetic variability of inoculum of the strawberry red core pathogen, Phytophthora fragariae var. fragariae, in soil. Plant Pathology 59, 472-479.
• George, T.S., Brown, L.K., Newton, A.C., Hallett, P.D., Thomas, W., White, P.J. 2010. Impact of soil tillage on the robustness of the genetic component of variation in phosphorus (P) use efficiency in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Proceedings of the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium, Plant and Soil (in press). (doi:10.1007/s11104-009-0209-5)
• Newton, A.C., Aker, T., Baresel, J.P., Bebeli, P., Bettencourt, E., Bladenopoulos, K.V., Czembor, J.H., Fasoula, D.A., Katsiotis, A., Koutis, K., Koutsika-Sotiriou, M., Kovacs, G., Larsson, H., Pinheiro de Carvalho, M.A.A., Rubiales, D., Russell, J., dos Santos, T.M.M., Vaz Patto, M.C. 2010. Cereal landraces for sustainable agriculture: a review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 30, 237-269.
• Gregory, P.J., Johnson, S.N., Newton, A.C., Ingram, J.S.I. 2009. Integrating pests and pathogens into the climate change/food security debate. Journal of Experimental Botany. (doi:10.1093/jxb/erp080)
• Newton, A.C., Begg, G., Swanston, J.S. 2009. Deployment of diversity for enhanced crop function. Annals of Applied Biology 154, 309-322.
• Newton, A.C., Guy, D.C. 2009. The effects of uneven, patchy cultivar mixtures on disease control and yield in winter barley. Field Crops Research 110, 225-228.
• Marshall, B., Newton, A.C., Zhan, J. 2009. Quantitative evolution of aggressiveness of powdery mildew in a two-cultivar barley mixture. Plant Pathology 58, 378-388.
• Newton, A.C., Hackett, C.A., Swanston, J.S. 2008. Analysing the contribution of component cultivars and cultivar combinations to malting quality, yield and disease in complex mixtures. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 88, 2142-2152.
• Zhan, J., Fitt, B.D.L., Pinnschmidt, H.O., Oxley, S.J.P., Newton, A.C., 2008. Resistance, epidemiology and sustainable management of Rhynchosporium secalis populations on barley. Plant Pathology 57, 1-14.

Full publication list as a pdf file (178 KB)

Posters

(View all posters)

Attachment	Size
Barley cultivar mixtures in theory and practice	56.81 KB
Disease resistance mapping in spring barley	372.11 KB
The effect of inoculum pressure fertiliser and component number on severity of mildew and scald yield and malting quality in mixtures of barley cultivars	156.62 KB
Resistance elicitors as crop protectants	197.19 KB
The effects of spatial scaling in host heterogeneity on epidemics of a plant pathogen	314.04 KB
Resistance to Spots and Blotches in Spring Barley	197.33 KB
Mitigating and adapting to climate change: Research at SCRI for northern Britain	560.65 KB
Do mixed cultivars outperform monocultures under defined soil tillage regimes?	289.42 KB
How do cultivar mixtures perform under defined soil tillage regimes?	411.09 KB
Mapping Resistance to Spots and Blotches in Spring Barley	189.35 KB
Adaptation of cropping systems in northern latitudes to environmental change: consequences for food security	1.67 MB
Assessing the contribution of component cultivars to malting quality yield and disease in complex cultivar mixtures	917.88 KB
Deployment of disease resistance in barley: theoretical expectations and interactions with cultivation methods	875.34 KB
Deployment of heterogeneity in cereals for disease control and yield enhancement	996.82 KB
Potassium deficiency and defence signalling	1.72 MB
Adapting our crop and soil systems to climate change	755.92 KB
Potassium Deficiency and JA-dependent Responses to Biotic Stress in Barley	1.33 MB
Role of Seed-Borne Infection in Rhynchosporium Epidemics in Barley	719.31 KB
Potassium Deficiency and JA-dependent Responses to Biotic Stress in Barley	216.78 KB
Characterization of the barley (Hordeum vulgare) phyllosphere	407.22 KB
Characterisation of the barley phyllosphere and its interactions with Rhynchosporium secalis	253.9 KB
Effect of a potato bacterial pathogen on barley fungal diseases	252.53 KB