Dr. Hans Cools, BSPP Membership Secretary

Hans Cools

I am interested in how fungi develop resistance to fungicides and antifungal compounds. My PhD studies, carried out at the University of Sheffield and Dr. Derek Hollomon’s group at Long Ashton Research Station, focussed on mechanisms of resistance to two fungicide classes (QoIs and azoles) in powdery mildew diseases of cereals and the Japanese pear scab fungus Venturia nashicola. During this work I spent six months at the National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES), Tsukuba, Japan under the guidance of Professor Hideo Ishii. On completion of my PhD I returned to Professor Ishii’s lab for one year on a Royal Society International Exchange Fellowship studying enhanced defence responses in plants after treatment with resistance inducers, particularly the so-called “priming response”.  In 2003, I began my current post in The Fungicide Research Group at Rothamsted Research. Currently, my main interests are the mechanisms responsible for decreased sensitivity to the azole group of fungicides, particularly in fungal pathogens of cereals. In the group, our current model disease is Septoria leaf blotch caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola, the most important foliar pathogen of wheat in the UK. This fungus has evolved resistance to most fungicide groups and consequently control currently relies on the azoles. Worryingly, over the past few years the efficacy of some azoles against M. graminicola has declined. My aims include the identification of the genetic changes responsible for this decline and the functional characterisation of the impact of these changes by molecular and biochemical techniques. The information gained from my research is used in the development of diagnostics for the detection and monitoring of resistance in pathogen populations thereby helping to devise strategies to manage the problem of resistance in the field. I also have an interest in using genomics to gain a greater understanding the mode of action of known and novel antifungal agents.