My research programme focuses on plant pathogenic bacteria. The hosts include Eucalyptus, native and stone fruit trees, maize, bananas, tomatoes and to a lesser extent potatoes. The programme has four areas of interest:

• identification and characterisation of new and emerging bacterial diseases
• understanding how bacteria, not generally considered to be primary plant pathogens, cause symptoms in their hosts
• determining the role played by abiotic and biotic factors in disease outbreaks caused by opportunistic bacterial plant pathogens
• investigating how bacterial pathogens that typically infect herbaceous plants adapt and infect woody hosts