Latest news with #PaulFigg
Glasgow Times
26-06-2025
- Science
- Glasgow Times
Hope for Britain's ash trees as study finds resistance evolving to killer fungus
Researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Queen Mary University of London say they have discovered a new generation of young ash trees in the wild which are showing greater resistance to the fungus compared to older trees. The findings from the study focused on Marden Park wood in Surrey, a semi-natural ancient woodland dominated by ash, which is a species that produces a large number of seedlings from each adult. It could mean ash does not go the same way as elms, which have been largely lost from the British landscape as a result of Dutch elm disease, the scientists said – although breeding programmes may be needed to bolster the fightback. Ash dieback, which was first seen in the UK in 2012, causes leaf loss and crown dieback and can lead to tree death, with fears it could wipe out up to 85% of Britain's native ash trees, as they have not evolved natural defences against the fungus originally from Asia. Ash dieback has threatened to devastate British woodlands (Paul Figg/RBG Kew/PA) But now researchers suggest that natural selection in the wild is taking place on thousands of locations within ash tree DNA, driving increased resistance to the disease. The study compared the DNA of ash trees established before and after the fungus arrived in Britain, and found shifts in variants associated with tree health in thousands of places across the overall genome of the trees. This indicates the younger generation of trees has greater resistance to the fungus – as well as showing natural selection for a trait being influenced by multiple genes, which the researchers said was a phenomenon that was widely assumed but difficult to prove. Their study in the journal Science said natural selection could be occurring partly due to reduced seed or pollen production by adult trees damaged by ash dieback, and partly through the rapid death of young trees infected by the fungus and so are not present in the wood. But they cautioned that it was not yet known whether the rate of change would be enough to rescue the plants naturally, or whether there was enough genetic variation in ash trees to lead to a fully resistant tree. The findings could be used to support breeding programmes that aim to make European ash trees resilient to the disease, they added. Study author Dr Carey Metheringham, from Kew and Queen Mary, said: 'Thanks to natural selection, future generations of ash should have a better chance of withstanding infection. 'However, natural selection alone may not be enough to produce fully resistant trees. 'The existing genetic variation in the ash population may be too low, and as the trees become scarcer, the rate of selection could slow. 'Human intervention, such as selective breeding and the protection of young trees from deer grazing, may be required to accelerate evolutionary change.' Another of the study's authors, Professor Richard Buggs, from Kew and Queen Mary, said: 'We are so glad that these findings suggest that ash will not go the way of the elm in Britain. 'Elm trees have struggled to evolve to Dutch elm disease, but ash are showing a very different dynamic because they produce an abundance of seedlings upon which natural selection can act when they are still young. 'Through the death of millions of ash trees, a more resistant population of ash is appearing.' Rebecca Gosling, from the Woodland Trust which owns and manages Marden Park wood, said: 'Ash dieback demonstrates how devastating introduced pathogens can be for our trees and the species which rely upon them. 'This important research gives us hope for the future of our ash populations.' She added: 'The findings highlight how vital it is to support natural regeneration in woodlands, furthering our understanding of how to best manage our ash woodlands.' The study was mainly funded by the Environment Department (Defra) whose chief plant health officer Professor Nicola Spence said it demonstrated that tolerance to ash dieback can be inherited, and breeding programmes and natural regeneration together could secure the future of native ash.
Western Telegraph
26-06-2025
- Health
- Western Telegraph
Hope for Britain's ash trees as study finds resistance evolving to killer fungus
Researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Queen Mary University of London say they have discovered a new generation of young ash trees in the wild which are showing greater resistance to the fungus compared to older trees. The findings from the study focused on Marden Park wood in Surrey, a semi-natural ancient woodland dominated by ash, which is a species that produces a large number of seedlings from each adult. It could mean ash does not go the same way as elms, which have been largely lost from the British landscape as a result of Dutch elm disease, the scientists said – although breeding programmes may be needed to bolster the fightback. Ash dieback, which was first seen in the UK in 2012, causes leaf loss and crown dieback and can lead to tree death, with fears it could wipe out up to 85% of Britain's native ash trees, as they have not evolved natural defences against the fungus originally from Asia. Ash dieback has threatened to devastate British woodlands (Paul Figg/RBG Kew/PA) But now researchers suggest that natural selection in the wild is taking place on thousands of locations within ash tree DNA, driving increased resistance to the disease. The study compared the DNA of ash trees established before and after the fungus arrived in Britain, and found shifts in variants associated with tree health in thousands of places across the overall genome of the trees. This indicates the younger generation of trees has greater resistance to the fungus – as well as showing natural selection for a trait being influenced by multiple genes, which the researchers said was a phenomenon that was widely assumed but difficult to prove. Their study in the journal Science said natural selection could be occurring partly due to reduced seed or pollen production by adult trees damaged by ash dieback, and partly through the rapid death of young trees infected by the fungus and so are not present in the wood. Thanks to natural selection, future generations of ash should have a better chance of withstanding infection Dr Carey Metheringham But they cautioned that it was not yet known whether the rate of change would be enough to rescue the plants naturally, or whether there was enough genetic variation in ash trees to lead to a fully resistant tree. The findings could be used to support breeding programmes that aim to make European ash trees resilient to the disease, they added. Study author Dr Carey Metheringham, from Kew and Queen Mary, said: 'Thanks to natural selection, future generations of ash should have a better chance of withstanding infection. 'However, natural selection alone may not be enough to produce fully resistant trees. 'The existing genetic variation in the ash population may be too low, and as the trees become scarcer, the rate of selection could slow. 'Human intervention, such as selective breeding and the protection of young trees from deer grazing, may be required to accelerate evolutionary change.' Another of the study's authors, Professor Richard Buggs, from Kew and Queen Mary, said: 'We are so glad that these findings suggest that ash will not go the way of the elm in Britain. 'Elm trees have struggled to evolve to Dutch elm disease, but ash are showing a very different dynamic because they produce an abundance of seedlings upon which natural selection can act when they are still young. 'Through the death of millions of ash trees, a more resistant population of ash is appearing.' The findings highlight how vital it is to support natural regeneration in woodlands, furthering our understanding of how to best manage our ash woodland Rebecca Gosling, Woodland Trust Rebecca Gosling, from the Woodland Trust which owns and manages Marden Park wood, said: 'Ash dieback demonstrates how devastating introduced pathogens can be for our trees and the species which rely upon them. 'This important research gives us hope for the future of our ash populations.' She added: 'The findings highlight how vital it is to support natural regeneration in woodlands, furthering our understanding of how to best manage our ash woodlands.' The study was mainly funded by the Environment Department (Defra) whose chief plant health officer Professor Nicola Spence said it demonstrated that tolerance to ash dieback can be inherited, and breeding programmes and natural regeneration together could secure the future of native ash.
South Wales Argus
26-06-2025
- Science
- South Wales Argus
Hope for Britain's ash trees as study finds resistance evolving to killer fungus
Researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Queen Mary University of London say they have discovered a new generation of young ash trees in the wild which are showing greater resistance to the fungus compared to older trees. The findings from the study focused on Marden Park wood in Surrey, a semi-natural ancient woodland dominated by ash, which is a species that produces a large number of seedlings from each adult. It could mean ash does not go the same way as elms, which have been largely lost from the British landscape as a result of Dutch elm disease, the scientists said – although breeding programmes may be needed to bolster the fightback. Ash dieback, which was first seen in the UK in 2012, causes leaf loss and crown dieback and can lead to tree death, with fears it could wipe out up to 85% of Britain's native ash trees, as they have not evolved natural defences against the fungus originally from Asia. Ash dieback has threatened to devastate British woodlands (Paul Figg/RBG Kew/PA) But now researchers suggest that natural selection in the wild is taking place on thousands of locations within ash tree DNA, driving increased resistance to the disease. The study compared the DNA of ash trees established before and after the fungus arrived in Britain, and found shifts in variants associated with tree health in thousands of places across the overall genome of the trees. This indicates the younger generation of trees has greater resistance to the fungus – as well as showing natural selection for a trait being influenced by multiple genes, which the researchers said was a phenomenon that was widely assumed but difficult to prove. Their study in the journal Science said natural selection could be occurring partly due to reduced seed or pollen production by adult trees damaged by ash dieback, and partly through the rapid death of young trees infected by the fungus and so are not present in the wood. But they cautioned that it was not yet known whether the rate of change would be enough to rescue the plants naturally, or whether there was enough genetic variation in ash trees to lead to a fully resistant tree. The findings could be used to support breeding programmes that aim to make European ash trees resilient to the disease, they added. Study author Dr Carey Metheringham, from Kew and Queen Mary, said: 'Thanks to natural selection, future generations of ash should have a better chance of withstanding infection. 'However, natural selection alone may not be enough to produce fully resistant trees. 'The existing genetic variation in the ash population may be too low, and as the trees become scarcer, the rate of selection could slow. 'Human intervention, such as selective breeding and the protection of young trees from deer grazing, may be required to accelerate evolutionary change.' Another of the study's authors, Professor Richard Buggs, from Kew and Queen Mary, said: 'We are so glad that these findings suggest that ash will not go the way of the elm in Britain. 'Elm trees have struggled to evolve to Dutch elm disease, but ash are showing a very different dynamic because they produce an abundance of seedlings upon which natural selection can act when they are still young. 'Through the death of millions of ash trees, a more resistant population of ash is appearing.' Rebecca Gosling, from the Woodland Trust which owns and manages Marden Park wood, said: 'Ash dieback demonstrates how devastating introduced pathogens can be for our trees and the species which rely upon them. 'This important research gives us hope for the future of our ash populations.' She added: 'The findings highlight how vital it is to support natural regeneration in woodlands, furthering our understanding of how to best manage our ash woodlands.' The study was mainly funded by the Environment Department (Defra) whose chief plant health officer Professor Nicola Spence said it demonstrated that tolerance to ash dieback can be inherited, and breeding programmes and natural regeneration together could secure the future of native ash.
Glasgow Times
15-05-2025
- Science
- Glasgow Times
‘Zombie spiders' and Darwin collection among fungi archived in Kew digitisation
Kew's Fungarium, an archive beneath the west London garden, is one of the world's biggest and most important collections of fungal diversity, containing more than 1.1 million specimens collected over the past 175 years. Teams have been creating high resolution images, transcribing the data and uploading it onto Kew's data portal, which grants researchers worldwide remote access to the collection. Kew's Fungarium (Sebastian Kettley/RBG Kew/PA) The specimens are georeferenced and span decades, meaning experts can observe how a species' range has changed over time, helping to inform conservation plans. Kew scientists have also been tapping into the genetic information stored in the Fungarium's 50,000 type specimens. The project, which is a partnership with the National History Museum and is backed by Government funding, aims to sequence about 7,000 of these fungi, making the data publicly available online in the coming years. This means anyone will be able to see the genetic code of a species, which could help to unlock new compounds and genetic sequences, accelerate the discovery of new chemicals and medicines, and tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. The mouldy fungi Penicillium rubens (Sebastian Kettley/RBG Kew/PA) Dr Ester Gaya, senior research leader in comparative fungal biology, said: 'It is incredibly exciting to imagine what diversity of compounds is hidden away in these collections. 'By sequencing these specimens, we hope to tap into these potential benefits, while providing new tools to accelerate species identification and insights into how fungi relate to one another through time.' Scientists estimate there are 2.5 million fungal species in the world but only 166,000 have been described. Shaheenara Chowdhury, operations manager of the Fungarium digitisation, said: 'Fungi have been overlooked by the scientific community for so long, and yet they are amongst the most wonderful and mysterious organisms on the planet. Stereum hirsutum, a fungus collected at around 15,000ft during an Everest expedition in 1953 (Paul Figg/RBG Kew/PA) 'It's incredibly exciting to imagine what new discoveries are going to be made with the aid of this new, powerful resource.' Among the species digitised by the Kew team is Gibellula attenboroughii – or David Attenborough's 'zombie fungus' – named after first being spotted on an episode of BBC's Winterwatch in 2021, having infected an orb-weaving cave spider. The parasitic fungus species belongs to a group that infects their invertebrate hosts and takes control before killing them as part of their spore-spreading mechanisms. Other species include Stereum hirsutum, a fungus collected at around 15,000ft during an Everest expedition in 1953, possibly during the climb of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Hemileia vastatrix causes a fungal disease known as coffee rust (Paul Figg/RBG Kew/PA) Another was Cyttaria dawinii, a small globular parasitic fungus collected by Charles Darwin in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in South America during the HMS Beagle voyage between 1831 and 1836. Kew scientists also highlighted Hemileia vastatrix, which causes a fungal disease known as coffee rust which is devastating to the coffee genus Coffea and is threatening farms around the world already under pressure from climate change. The mouldy fungi Penicillium rubens, which Scottish physician Alexander Fleming discovered produced the groundbreaking antibiotic compound in the 1920s, is also included in the digitised archive.
Western Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Science
- Western Telegraph
‘Zombie spiders' and Darwin collection among fungi archived in Kew digitisation
Kew's Fungarium, an archive beneath the west London garden, is one of the world's biggest and most important collections of fungal diversity, containing more than 1.1 million specimens collected over the past 175 years. Teams have been creating high resolution images, transcribing the data and uploading it onto Kew's data portal, which grants researchers worldwide remote access to the collection. Kew's Fungarium (Sebastian Kettley/RBG Kew/PA) The specimens are georeferenced and span decades, meaning experts can observe how a species' range has changed over time, helping to inform conservation plans. Kew scientists have also been tapping into the genetic information stored in the Fungarium's 50,000 type specimens. The project, which is a partnership with the National History Museum and is backed by Government funding, aims to sequence about 7,000 of these fungi, making the data publicly available online in the coming years. This means anyone will be able to see the genetic code of a species, which could help to unlock new compounds and genetic sequences, accelerate the discovery of new chemicals and medicines, and tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. The mouldy fungi Penicillium rubens (Sebastian Kettley/RBG Kew/PA) Dr Ester Gaya, senior research leader in comparative fungal biology, said: 'It is incredibly exciting to imagine what diversity of compounds is hidden away in these collections. 'By sequencing these specimens, we hope to tap into these potential benefits, while providing new tools to accelerate species identification and insights into how fungi relate to one another through time.' Scientists estimate there are 2.5 million fungal species in the world but only 166,000 have been described. Shaheenara Chowdhury, operations manager of the Fungarium digitisation, said: 'Fungi have been overlooked by the scientific community for so long, and yet they are amongst the most wonderful and mysterious organisms on the planet. Stereum hirsutum, a fungus collected at around 15,000ft during an Everest expedition in 1953 (Paul Figg/RBG Kew/PA) 'It's incredibly exciting to imagine what new discoveries are going to be made with the aid of this new, powerful resource.' Among the species digitised by the Kew team is Gibellula attenboroughii – or David Attenborough's 'zombie fungus' – named after first being spotted on an episode of BBC's Winterwatch in 2021, having infected an orb-weaving cave spider. The parasitic fungus species belongs to a group that infects their invertebrate hosts and takes control before killing them as part of their spore-spreading mechanisms. Other species include Stereum hirsutum, a fungus collected at around 15,000ft during an Everest expedition in 1953, possibly during the climb of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Hemileia vastatrix causes a fungal disease known as coffee rust (Paul Figg/RBG Kew/PA) Another was Cyttaria dawinii, a small globular parasitic fungus collected by Charles Darwin in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in South America during the HMS Beagle voyage between 1831 and 1836. Kew scientists also highlighted Hemileia vastatrix, which causes a fungal disease known as coffee rust which is devastating to the coffee genus Coffea and is threatening farms around the world already under pressure from climate change. The mouldy fungi Penicillium rubens, which Scottish physician Alexander Fleming discovered produced the groundbreaking antibiotic compound in the 1920s, is also included in the digitised archive.
