Biography
Rob Ingle holds a PhD in Plant Science from the University of Oxford (2004) and has since been based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where he is currently an Associate Professor in Genetics. His major area of research focuses on understanding the molecular basis of plant responses to both abiotic and biotic environmental stresses. His group uses southern African plant species to investigate the evolution of vegetative desiccation tolerance (Xerophyta resurrection plants) and heavy metal hyperaccumulation (Senecio coronatus), while also employing the Arabidopsis–Botrytis cinerea and Arabidopsis–Pseudomonas syringae pathosystems to study plant responses to biotic stress. Having demonstrated that the circadian clock drives time-of-day variation in susceptibility to these pathogens, his current work aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying clock-mediated regulation of plant innate immunity.
