Dr Laura Kelly
Research Leader
Department
Team
Specialism
Genomics, evolution, plant health, phylogenetics, phylogenomics, bioinformatics
I am a Research Leader in the Plant Health Team at Kew. My current research focuses on threats posed to plant health by pests and pathogens and the use of evolutionary and genomic approaches to address these. I have recently been working on the threat posed by the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, by identifying candidate genes for resistance and have a new project that aims to predict risk posed to plant health in the UK by other species of Agrilus. I am also an academic visitor at Queen Mary University of London, where I previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher, and I am involved in supervising PhD and MSc students who are registered there.
- PhD Botany, University of Reading, 2005
- BSc (1st class Hons) Botany, University of Reading, 2000
Kelly, L.J., Plumb, W.J., Carey, D.W. et al. (2020).
Convergent molecular evolution among ash species resistant to the emerald ash borer.
Nature Ecology & Evolution, 4: 1116-1128.
Plumb, W.J., Coker, T.L.R., Stocks, J.J., et al. (2020).
The viability of a breeding programme for ash in the British Isles in the face of ash dieback.
Plants, People, Planet, 2: 29-40.
Stocks, J.J., Metheringham, C.L., Plumb, W.J. et al. (2019).
Genomic basis of European ash tree resistance to ash dieback fungus.
Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3: 1686-1696.
Wan, T., Liu, Z., Li, L.. et al. (2018).
A genome for gnetophytes and early evolution of seed plants.
Nature Plants, 4: 82-89.
Sollars, E.S.A., Harper, A.L., Kelly, L.J. et al. (2017).
Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees.
Nature, 541: 212-216.
Kelly, L.J., Renny-Byfield, S., Pellicer, J. et al. (2015).
Analysis of the giant genomes of Fritillaria (Liliaceae) indicates that a lack of DNA removal characterizes extreme expansions in genome size.
New Phytologist, 208: 596-607.
