Robert Wilson Jackson
Work Address: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AJ, UK
Tel: +44 118 3788892
Fax: +44 118 3786671
E-mail: R.W.Jackson@reading.ac.uk
CURRENT POSITION
Lecturer in Microbiology, University of Reading; Admissions tutor for BSc Medical Microbiology.
FULL TIME EDUCATION
1994-1997
University of the West of England, Bristol.
Doctor of Philosophy, Thesis title: Plasmids and virulence in Pseudomonas syringae pv.
phaseolicola. Funded by AFRC/BBSRC. Awarded 9th March 1998.
1991-1994
UWE, Bristol.
BSc (Hons) Applied Biological Sciences, Upper second, specialization in
Biotechnology.
1989-1991
UWE, Bristol
HND Applied Biology
FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2006-present Lecturer in Microbiology, University of Reading
2004-2006
Leverhulme Research Officer, University of Bath
To work with Dr Richard Cooper to analyse the role of bacterial extracellular
polysaccharide in virulence and overcoming eukaryotic defence.
2004
BBSRC Post-doctoral Research Associate, UWE, Bristol.
Working with Dr Dawn Arnold and Prof. John Mansfield characterising a Pseudomonas
syringae pathogenicity island.
2004
Postdoctoral Research Assistant, University of Oxford
Characterisation of regulators of plant-induced genes in Pseudomonas fluorescens.
2004
BSPP Fellow and Honorary appointment to University of Auckland, New
Zealand
Sampling of plant-associated pseudomonad bacteria in New Zealand and multi locus
sequence typing analysis to study population structure of plant pseudomonads.
2001-2003
BBSRC Post-doctoral Research Assistant, University of Oxford
Working with Drs Paul Rainey and Gail Preston characterising type III protein secretion
homologues in the plant growth promoting bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens.
1998-2000
BBSRC Post-doctoral Research Associate, UWE, Bristol.
Working with Profs Alan Vivian and John Mansfield (of Imperial College at Wye, Kent)
identifying and characterising virulence genes of the bean halo blight pathogen,
Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola.
1994
Research assistant, UWE, Bristol.
Working with Prof. Alan Vivian, identifying hrp genes in P. s. pv. pisi.
1993/1994
Research assistant, Long Ashton Research Station, Bristol.
Working with Dr David Royle on the willow biomass project collecting and processing
data.
FELLOWSHIPS AND ACADEMIC AWARDS
2003
British Society for Plant Pathology fellowship, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
2002
Departmental Merit award (Oxford) for outstanding contribution to research.
2001
Best poster (co-author) for section at 10th International Congress on Molecular PlantMicrobe Interactions.
2000
Fellowship for Internationally Renowned Overseas Scientists, University of Florence, Italy
1992
Aylwin Chadwick Memorial Prize (Book Award) for achievement in science.
POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY
2008
Visiting scientist to participate in graduate course at the University of Navarra, Spain.
2006
2004/05
2002
2001-02
1998-1999
1996-97
Visiting scientist to participate in graduate course at the University of Malaga, Spain.
Visiting lecturer for final year Genome Analysis module on BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences
(UWE).
Visiting lecturer for final year Plant Biology module on BA (Hons) Biology (Oxford).
Drafted risk assessment, HSE notification documents and DEFRA licence applications and
successfully orchestrated transition of laboratories from Class 1 to Class 2, Department of
Plant Sciences, University of Oxford.
Organizer of Molecular Biology Round Table in Dept. of Biological and Biomedical
Sciences. UWE, Bristol
Postgraduate representative for Biological Sciences on Faculty Research Committee, UWE,
Bristol.
RESEARCH FUNDING
2008 Commonwealth Scholarship Funding
2008 The Royal Society
2008 Society for General Microbiology
2008 The Genetics Society
2008 University of Reading Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme
2007 Reading Endowment Trust Fund
2007 School of Biological Sciences, UoR
2004 British Society for Plant Pathology
£12.4k
£15k
£1880
£2000
£1260
£21K
£21K
£2500
I have also received over £5000 in funding from The Royal Society and other learned societies (BSPP,
SGM, Genetics) for conference attendance.
PHD STUDENT SUPERVISION
2007- Abdullah Alsohim, University of Reading
2007- Federico Dorati, University of Reading
REVIEWING WORK
Refereed manuscripts
Molecular Microbiology, Journal of Bacteriology, Microbiology, Molecular and General Genetics, Molecular
Plant Pathology, FEMS Microbiology Letters, Crop Protection, and Plant Pathology, PLoS Pathogens and
New Phytologist.
Refereed grant proposals
USDA Biology of Plant-Microbe Associations Program
Dutch Technology Foundation STW
BBSRC.
AFFILIATIONS
I am a member of British Society for Plant Pathology, Society for General Microbiology, American Society
of Microbiology, the Genetics Society and the International Society of Molecular Plant-Microbe
Interactions.
PERSONAL INTERESTS
I enjoy Scuba Diving (PADI qualified Advanced Open Water Diver), football, badminton, hiking, reading,
music, cooking and wine tasting. When my body isn’t crapping out, I enjoy participating in team sports
events: representing Long Ashton Research Station BBSRC annual sports day at Rothamsted research
station (1993); representing UWE in a Royal Society of Chemistry sports day in Cardiff (1997);
competing in the Teddy Hall relay race in Oxford with three science colleagues (2004); competing in
departmental football matches at University of Bath (2005-2006) and cricket matches, University of
Reading (2007-). I have also had the pleasure to marshal for the Measham Vintage sports car rally.
PUBLICATIONS
24. Aslam, S.N., Newman, M-A., Erbs, G., Morrissey, K.L., Chinchilla, D., Boller, T., Jensen, T.T., De
Castro, C., Ierano, T., Molinaro, A., Jackson, R.W., Knight, M.R. and Cooper, R.M. (2008) Bacterial
polysaccharides suppress induced innate immunity by calcium chelation. Current Biology In Press.
23. Giddens, S.R. Jackson, R.W., Moon, C.D., Gehrig, S., Zhang, X-X. and Rainey, P.B. Mutational
activation of niche specific genes provides insights into regulatory networks and bacterial function in a
complex environment. PNAS, 104, 18247-252. Joint first author, Corresponding author, Cited in
Faculty of 1000.
22. Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W., Waterfield, N. R. and Mansfield, J.W. (2007) Evolution of microbial
virulence – the benefits of stress. Trends in Genetics 6, 293-300.
21. Ma, Z., Smith, J.J., Zhao, Y., Jackson, R.W., Arnold, D.L. Murillo, J. and Sundin, G. (2007)
Phylogenetic Analysis of the pPT23A Plasmid Family of Pseudomonas syringae. Applied and
Environmental Microbiology 73: 1287-1295.
20. Matthijs, S., Tehrani, K. A., Laus, G., Jackson, R., Cooper, R.M. and Cornelis, P. (2007)
Thioquinolobactin, a Pseudomonas siderophore with anti-fungal and anti-Pythium activity. Environmental
Microbiology, 9: 425-434.
19. Jackson, R.W. and Giddens, S.R. (2006) Development and application of in vivo expression
technology (IVET) for analysing microbial gene expression in complex environments. Infectious
Disorders – Drug Targets 6: 207-240.
18. Paynter, C.D. Salisbury, V.C., Arnold, D.L. and Jackson, R.W. (2006) The use of bioluminescence
for monitoring in planta growth dynamics of a Pseudomonas syringae plant pathogen. European Journal
of Plant Pathology 115: 363-366.
17. Jackson, R.W., Preston, G.M., and Rainey, P.B. (2005) Genetic characterisation of Pseudomonas
fluorescens SBW25 rsp gene expression in the phytosphere and in vitro. Journal of Bacteriology 187:
8477-8488.
16. Pitman, A.R., Jackson, R.W., Mansfield, J.W., Kaitell, V., Thwaites, R. and Arnold, D.L. (2005)
Exposure to host resistance mechanisms drives evolution of bacterial virulence in plants. Current Biology
15:2230-2235.
15. Scortichini, M. Rossi, M.P. Loreti, S., Bosco, A., Fiori, M., Jackson, R.W., Stead, D.E., Aspin, A.,
Marchesi, U., Zini, M. and Janse, J.D. (2005) Pseudomonas syringae pv. coryli (pv. nov.), the causal
agent of bacterial twig dieback of Corylus avellana L. Phytopathology, 95:1316-1324.
14. Joardar, V., Lindeberg, M., Jackson, R.W. and 28 other authors. (2005) Whole-genome sequence
analysis of Pseudomonas syringae pv phaseolicola 1448A reveals divergence among pathovars in genes
involved in virulence and transposition. Journal of Bacteriology 187: 6488-6498.
13. Rivas, L.A., Mansfield, J., Tsiamis, G., Jackson, R.W., and Murillo, J. (2005) Changes in racespecific virulence in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola are associated with a chimeric transposable
element and rare deletion events in a plasmid-borne pathogenicity island. Applied and Environmental
Microbiology 71:3778-3785.
12. Arnold. D.L., Pitman, A. and Jackson, R.W. (2003) Pathogenicity and genomic islands in plant
pathogenic bacteria. Molecular Plant Pathology 4, 407-422.
11. Jackson, R.W., Mansfield, J.W., Ammouneh, H., Dutton, L.C., Wharton, B., Ortiz-Barredo, A.,
Arnold, D.L., Tsiamis, G., Sesma, A., Butcher, D., Boch, J., Kim, Y.J., Martin, G.B., Tegli, S., Murillo, J.
and Alan Vivian (2002) Location and activity of members of a family of virPphA homologues in pathovars
of Pseudomonas syringae and P. savastanoi. Molecular Plant Pathology 3: 205-216.
10. Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W., Fillingham, A.J., Goss, S.C., Taylor, J.D., Mansfield, J.W. and Vivian,
A. (2001) Highly conserved sequences flank avirulence genes: isolation of novel avirulence genes from
Pseudomonas syringae pv pisi. Microbiology 147: 1171-1182.
9. Vivian, A., Murillo, J. and Jackson, R. (2001) The roles of plasmids in phytopathogenic bacteria:
mobile arsenals? Microbiology 147: 763-780.
8. Arnold D.L., Gibbon, M.J., Jackson, R.W., Wood, J.R., Brown, J., Mansfield, J.W., Taylor J.D. and
Vivian, A. (2001) Molecular characterization of avrPphD, a widely-distributed gene from Pseudomonas
syringae pv. phaseolicola involved in non-host recognition by pea (Pisum sativum). Physiological and
Molecular Plant Pathology, 58: 55-62.
7. Jackson, R.W., Mansfield, J.W., Arnold, D.L., Sesma, A., Paynter, C.D., Murillo, J., Taylor, J.D. and
Vivian, A. (2000) Excision from tRNA genes of a large chromosomal region, carrying avrPphB, associated
with race change in the bean pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. Molecular Microbiology
38: 186-197.
6. Yamamoto, S., Kasai, H., Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W., Vivian, A. and Harayama, S. (2000)
Phylogeny of the genus Pseudomonas: intrageneric structure reconstructed from the nucleotide
sequences of gyrB and rpoD genes. Microbiology: Pseudomonas Special Issue 146: 2385-2394.
5. Tsiamis, G., Mansfield, J.W., Hockenhull, R., Jackson, R.W., Sesma, A., Athanassopoulos, E.,
Bennett, M.A., Stevens, C., Vivian, A., Taylor, J.D. and Murillo, J. (2000) Cultivar-specific avirulence and
virulence functions assigned to avrPphF in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola, the cause of bean
halo blight disease. EMBO Journal 19: 3204-3214. Specified as a paper of “Outstanding Interest”
by Nimchuk, Rohmer, Chang and Dangl (2001) Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 4:288-294.
4. Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W. and Vivian, A. (2000) Evidence for mobility of an avirulence gene,
avrPpiA1, between the chromosome and plasmids of races of Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. Molecular
Plant Pathology 1: 195-199.
3. Jackson, R.W., Athanassopoulos, E., Tsiamis, G., Mansfield, J.W., Sesma, A., Arnold, D.L., Gibbon,
M.J., Murillo, J., Taylor, J.D. and Vivian, A. (1999) Identification of a pathogenicity island, which contains
genes for virulence and avirulence, on a large native plasmid in the bean pathogen Pseudomonas
syringae pathovar phaseolicola. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 96: 1087510880. Specified as a “Landmark Paper” of “Outstanding Interest” by Kjemtrup, Nimchuk
and Dangl (2000) Curr. Opin. Microbiology 3:73-78.
2. Arnold, D.L., Brown, J., Jackson, R.W. and Vivian, A. (1999) A dispensable region of the
chromosome which is associated with an avirulence gene in Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. Microbiology
145: 135-141.
1. Cournoyer, B., Arnold, D., Jackson, R. and Vivian, A. (1996) Phylogenetic evidence for a
diversification of Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi race 4 strains into two distinct lineages. Phytopathology
86: 1051-1056.
BOOK EDITING
Plant Pathogenic Bacteria: Genomics and Molecular Biology Edited Robert W. Jackson. Horizon Press
Books, UK. In preparation.
BOOK CHAPTERS
Moon, C.D., Giddens, S.R., Zhang, X.-X. and Jackson, R.W. Molecular mechanisms
underpinning plant colonization of a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium. In Plant-Bacteria
Interactions. Strategies and Techniques to Promote Plant Growth. Edited by Iqbal Ahmad, John Pichtel
and Shamsul Hayat. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmBH & Co., KGaA, Weinheim, Germany. Pages 111-128.
Arnold, D.L and Jackson, R.W. (2007) Bacterial Pathogenicity Islands. In: Horizontal Gene Transfer in
the Evolution of Pathogenesis, part of the series ' Advances in Molecular and Cellular Microbiology'
(series editor Michael Wilson). Edited by Herbert Schmidt and Michael Hensel. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, UK. Submitted.
Godfrey, S.A.C. and Jackson, R.W. (2006) Molecular characterisation of bacterial plant pathogens. In:
Molecular Techniques for Soil and Rhizosphere Microorganisms. Edited by J. E. Cooper & J.S. Rao. CABI
Publishing, Oxon, UK.
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Preston, G., Spiers, A., Zhang, X.X., Jackson, R., Gal, M., Knight, C., Gehrig, S., Malone, J., Moon, C.,
Godfrey, S., Robinson, Z., Bertrand, N., Field, D. and Rainey, P. (2003). Pseudomonas in the
underworld: the secret life of Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25. Proceedings of the 6th Annual
Conference on Pseudomonas syringae and related pathogens. pp. 347-353. Ed. N. Iacobellis, A. Collmer,
S.W. Hutcheson, J.W.Mansfield, C.E. Morris, J. Murillo, N.W. Schaad, D.E. Stead, G. Surico and M.S.
Ullrich. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Murillo, J., Butcher, D., Jackson, R., Sundin, G.W., Vivian, A. and Arnold, D.A. (2003) Methods for
identification of virulence genes in Pseudomonas syringae. Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on
Pseudomonas syringae and related pathogens. pp. 127-135. Ed. N. Iacobellis, A. Collmer, S.W.
Hutcheson, J.W.Mansfield, C.E. Morris, J. Murillo, N.W. Schaad, D.E. Stead, G. Surico and M.S. Ullrich.
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Jackson, R.W., Ortiz-Barredo, A., Tsiamis, G., Butcher, D., Wharton, B., Mansfield, J.W., Murillo, J.,
Arnold, D.L. and Vivian, A. (2001) Distribution and characterisation of vir gene homologues in
Pseudomonas syringae pathovars. In: Plant Pathogenic Bacteria. Proceedings of the 10th International
Conference on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 23rd-27th
2000. Ed. Solke H. De Boer. (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands), pp. 212-215.
Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W. and Vivian, A. Isolation of novel avirulence genes from Pseudomonas
syringae pv. pisi. (2001) In: Plant Pathogenic Bacteria. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference
on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 23rd-27th 2000. Ed.
Solke H. De Boer. (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands), pp. 216-219.
Tegli, S., Lasso, A., Jackson, R.W., Vivian, A., Viti, C., Giovanetti, L. and Surico, G. (2001)
Pseudomonas savastanoi e la sua specificità d’ospite. Petria 11: 67-69.
Jackson, R.W., Athanassopoulos, E., Tsiamis, G., Mansfield, J.W., Grant, M., Sesma, A., Arnold, D.L.,
Gibbon, M.J., Murillo, J., Taylor, J.D. and Vivian, A. (2000) Genes for virulence on a pathogenicity island
in the bean pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola: how do they work? In: Biology of plantmicrobe interactions, volume 2, eds. De Wit, P.J.G.M., Bisseling, T. and Stiekema, W.J. (International
Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), pp. 303-308.
Jackson, R., Arnold, D., Cournoyer, B. and Vivian, A. (1997) Preliminary characterization of the hrp
gene cluster of Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. In: Pseudomonas syringae Pathovars and Related
Pathogens, eds. Rudolph, K., Burr, T.J., Mansfield, J.W., Stead, D., Vivian, A. and von Kietzell, J.
(Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands), pp. 397-402.
ORAL PAPERS (GIVEN BY MYSELF IN BOLD)
Jackson, R.W., Aslam, S., Knight, M.R. and Cooper, R.M. Bacterial extracellular polysaccharides
modulate plant physiological responses to bacterial and elicitor challenge. Molecular Biology of Plant
Pathogens XVI, Ambleside, UK, September 19th-21st 2005.
Giddens, S.R., Moon, C.D., Jackson, R.W., Zhang, X-X., Gehrig, S.M., Jacobs, M.A. and Rainey, P.B.
Genomic suppressor analysis of Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 identifies regulatory genes and
systems that control expression of plant-induced genes. Phyllosphere 2005, St Catherines College,
University of Oxford, UK July 24th-27th 2005.
Jackson, R.W., Preston, G.M. and Rainey, P.B. The Type III regulon of P. fluorescens SBW25. Biology
in the Root Environment BBSRC meeting, DeVere Belton Woods, Belton, Nr Grantham, UK. November
24th-25th 2004.
Jackson, R.W., Giddens, S.R., Moon, C.D., Jacobs, M.A., Zhang, X.X., Gehrig, S.M. and Rainey, P.B. A
functional genomic approach to identify the regulatory systems of plant inducible genes of Pseudomonas
fluorescens SBW25. One Day for SBW25, University of Oxford, December 10th 2004.
Jackson, R.W. Introduction to IVET. One Day for SBW25, University of Oxford, December 19th 2003.
Jackson, R.W., Preston, G.M. and Rainey, P.B. Regulation of type III secretion genes in Pseudomonas.
Biology in the Root Environment BBSRC meeting, Heythrop Park, UK September 9th-10th 2002; 6th
International conference of Pseudomonas syringae pathovars and related pathogens, September 15th19th 2002, Acquafredda di Maratea, Italy.
Jackson, R.W., Ortiz-Barredo, A., Tsiamis, G., Butcher, D., Wharton, B., Mansfield, J.W., Murillo, J.,
Arnold, D.L. and Vivian, A. Distribution and characterisation of vir gene homologues in Pseudomonas
syringae pathovars. 10th International Conference on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria, July 23rd-27th 2000,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Arnold, D.L., Jackson, R.W. and Vivian, A. Isolation of novel avirulence genes from Pseudomonas
syringae pv. pisi. 10th International Conference on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria, July 23rd-27th 2000,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Mansfield, J.W., Jackson, R.W., Tsiamis, G., Athanassopoulos, E., Grant, M., Sesma, A., Arnold, D.L.,
Gibbon, M.J., Murillo, J., Taylor, J.D. and Vivian, A. (1999) Genes for virulence and avirulence on a
pathogenicity island in the bean pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola: how do they work?
9th International Congress of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, July 25th-30th, Amsterdam, Holland.
Jackson, R., Mansfield, J., Gibbon, M., Arnold, D., Murillo, J. and Vivian, A. (1998) A large native
plasmid of Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola is associated with pathogenicity towards bean. 7th
International Congress of Plant Pathology, August 9th-16th, Edinburgh.
Jackson, R.W., Tsiamis, G., Athanassopoulos, E., Gibbon, M.J., Arnold, D.L., Sesma, A., Taylor, J.D.,
Murillo, J., Mansfield, J.W. and Vivian, A. (1998) Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola harbours a
large native plasmid, which confers virulence and avirulence towards bean. Versatile Pseudomonads,
Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics symposium, 141st Ordinary meeting of the Society for
General Microbiology, September 8th-10th, University of East Anglia.
Jackson, R.W., Mansfield, J.W., Taylor, J.D., Gibbon, M.J., Arnold, D.L. and Vivian, A (1997) A plasmid
associated with virulence of Pseudomonas syringae on bean. UK Plasmid Biology Workshop, May 8th,
Queen Elizabeth Postgraduate Medical Centre, University of Birmingham.
I have also given invited oral presentations at University of Cardiff, University of Chicago, USA,
University of Catania, Italy, Virginia Tech, USA, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA and
several one day workshops at University of Oxford.