Profile of James Doonan

Name

James Doonan

Position

Postdoctoral Research Officer

Email

j.doonan@bangor.ac.uk

Phone

01248 38 8392

Location

Currently, I am a post-doctoral researcher funded by Forest Research, the Monument Foundation and Woodland Heritage to establish the molecular interactions which underpin bacterial and fungal mediated necrosis of oak tissue, particularly within Acute Oak Decline (AOD) and Chronic Oak Decline (COD). This work is a collaboration between Bangor University and Forest Research (Alice Holt, Surrey).

AOD is a recently described decline-disease affecting oak trees in the United Kingdom. It is caused by a complex pathobiome of interacting bacteria, resulting in degradation and necrosis of bark tissue. This causes ring-barking or ‘girdling’ as nutrients are no longer transported through phloem and sapwood. However, oak trees are resilient and when affected many oaks can repel bacterial pathogens. Furthermore, an oak must first become susceptible to bacterial pathogens through the predisposing factors of decline. Predisposing and contributing factors of decline are biotic and abiotic, including drought and pests such as the buprestid beetle Agrilus biguttatus – an insect found in >90% cases of AOD. The incidence of AOD is increasing as climatic fluctuations increase incidence of drought and other perturbations, weakening the resilience of oaks and subjecting them to increased likelihood of decline-disease.

CV

Ph.D Genomic analysis of bacterial species associated with Acute Oak Decline. Bangor University. 2012-2017.
MSc. Population genetics of the intertidal mollusc Kathariana tunicata. Queens University Belfast. 2010-2012.
BSc. (hons). Microbiology. University of Glasgow. 2003-2007

2020

• PublishedHost–microbiota–insect interactions drive emergent virulence in a complex tree disease
  Doonan, J., Broberg, M., Denman, S. & McDonald, J., 26 Aug 2020, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287, 1933, 20200956.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSurvival of Brenneria goodwinii and Gibbsiella quercinecans, Associated with Acute Oak Decline, in Rainwater and Forest Soil
  Pettifor, B. J., Doonan, J., Denman, S. & McDonald, J., Mar 2020, In: Systematic and Applied Microbiology. 43, 2
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedGenomic analysis of bacteria in the Acute Oak Decline pathobiome
  Doonan, J., Denman, S., Pachebat, J. A. & McDonald, J., 8 Jan 2019, In: Microbial Genomics. 5, 1, 15 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• PublishedIntegrated multi-omic analysis of host-microbiota interactions in acute oak decline
  Broberg, M., Doonan, J., Mundt, F. & McDonald, J., 30 Jan 2018, In: Microbiome. 6, 21.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMicrobiome and infectivity studies reveal complex polyspecies tree disease in Acute Oak Decline
  Denman, S., Doonan, J., Ransom-Jones, E., Broberg, M., Plummer, S., Kirk, S. A., Scarlett, K., Griffiths, A., Kaczmarek, M., Foster, J., Peace, A., Golyshin, P., Hassard, F., Brown, N., Kenny, J. G. & McDonald, J., 2018, In: The ISME Journal. 12, p. 386-399
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

• PublishedLignocellulose-Degrading Microbial Communities in Landfill Sites Represent a Repository of Unexplored Biomass- Degrading Diversity Emma
  Ransom-Jones, E., McCarthy, AJ., Haldenby, S., Doonan, J. & McDonald, JE., Aug 2017, In: mSphere. 2, 4, e00300.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedShotgun Metagenomic Sequencing Analysis of Soft-Rot Enterobacteriaceae in Polymicrobial Communities
  Doonan, J., Denman, S., McDonald, J. & Golyshin, P., 30 Nov 2016, Metagenomics. Streit, W. R. & Daniel, R. (eds.). Springer New York, Vol. 1539. p. 85-97 (Methods in Molecular Biology; vol. 1539).
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2015

• PublishedThe intergenic transcribed spacer region 1 as a molecular marker for identification and discrimination of Enterobacteriaceae associated with acute oak decline
  Doonan, J., Denman, S., Gertler, C., Pachebat, J. A., Golyshin, P. N. & McDonald, J. E., 1 Jan 2015, In: Journal of Applied Microbiology. 118, 1, p. 193-201 9 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2012

• PublishedExtensive local-scale gene flow and long-term population stability in the intertidal mollusc Katharina tunicata (Mollusca: Polyplacophora)
  Doonan, J., Beatty, G. E., Sigwart, J. D. & Provan, J., 2012, In: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 106, 3, p. 589-597 9 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review