Tim George

Director of the International Barley Hub
T: +44 (0)344 928 5428 (*)

Tim is a plant physiologist/soil scientist and has worked on rhizosphere processes for the last three decades.

Understanding how plants react to and alter their external environment is key to optimising their resource use, adaptation to stress and resilience and therefore the sustainability of agriculture and natural ecosystems. He is specifically interested in understanding the physiology of and genetic controls on plant responses to nutrient deficiency and drought. He has specific expertise in understanding how the external environment mitigates plant physiological and genetic responses to a lack of phosphorus in the rhizosphere. In addition, he is interested in how plants interact with the soil chemical, biological and physical environment to impact nutrient cycles.

Biography

His recent research includes work on the ability of Bere barley to cope with extreme micronutrient deficiency, the role of root exuded enzymes and mycorrhizae in making organic P available and the impact of root hairs on the ability of barley to acquire soil resources.

The direction of his research is moving towards investigating the use of barley diversity for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The aim is to discover genes and traits to both optimize rhizosphere N and P cycles, promote C sequestration to soils and help adapt crops to abiotic stress associated with climate change. Understanding the rhizosphere processes involved in the N, P and C cycle and how these are affected by genotypic variation in root exudate composition will be key to managing both fertilizer use efficiency and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

Research

The research of my team has produced a number of research highlights in the last 5 years:

Rhizosphere processes in utilisation of organic nutrients:Demonstration that plants exuding phytase and citrate change rhizosphere biochemistry to the plants benefit and that interactions between plants with different traits is important. We have also demonstrated elegent interactions between plants, mycorrhizae and the hyphosphere microboime in allowing access to organis nutrients. In the future will apply knowledge into designing tools which allow better management of the rhizosphere.

Root hairs and rhizosheaths:  Demonstration that root hairs are critical to the ability of cereals to yield under P-deficient and drought conditions and that their absence is not compensated by mycorrhizae.  In addition, the presence of root hairs is implicit in the development of rhizosheaths. We know that the rhizosheath trait is highly heritable, making it a good target for breeding of improved cultivars of cereal crops for future agricultural environments.  In the future we aim to identify the genetic control and evolutionary origin of this trait and understand the physiology of how root hairs generate rhizopsheres.

Using traditional landraces for sustainability: Demonstration that extant barley landraces selected over many generations on marginal soils have adapted to tolerate limited micronutrient availability. We show that Bere barley has unprecedented abilities to tolerate Mn deficiency and constitutes a valuable resource of untapped adaptive genetic variation. In the future we will use genetics approaches to identify useful cultivars and genes controlling the key adaptive traits to underpin crop improvement in marginal soils

In the last 5 years I have supervised 10 Ph.D. students. I have been appointed as Marschner Editor for Plant and Soil, elected to the board of EPSO (European Plant Science Organisations) and have examined 10 PhD theses in five different countries. Also in the last 5 years, the group has attracted over £5m in grants to fund our research and have produced over 70 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

  • 2023-2028 EU Horizon Europe “COUSINS: Crop Wild Relatives Utilization and Conservation for Sustainable Agriculture”. Co-I (Hutton lead) Total Value €6000000; Hutton value €317871
  • 2022-2027 EU Horizon Europe “Root2Res: Root phenotyping and genetic improvement for rotational crops resilient to environmental change”. Coordinator,  Total  value €6999998; Hutton €634431 ;
  • 2021-2025 EU H2020 “ReAlising DynamIc vAlue chaiNs for underuTilised crops- RADIANT”. Co-I, Total value €5999715; Hutton £437998
  • 2020-2022 EU Marie Curie Fellowship “Ancient genetics (AGENT): Capturing signatures of nutrient stress tolerance from extant landraces to unlock the production potential of marginal lands”. Co-I, Total Value €224934; Hutton €224934
  • 2017-2022 EU H2020 “SolACE: Solutions improving agroecosystem & crop efficiency”. Co-I (Hutton Lead), Total value €5688000; Hutton €365000
  • 2017-2019 Royal Society International Exchange Programme China “Contribution of Root Hairs, Mycorrhizae and Bacteria to Organic P Use by Crops”. PI, Total value £12000; Hutton £12000
  • 2016-2019 EU ERC “Sensing soil processes for N bioavailability (SENSOILS)”. Co-I, Total value £1700000; Hutton £1700000
  • 2014-2018 BBSRC-SARISA “Rhizosphere by design: breeding to select root traits that physically manipulate soil”. Co-I (Hutton Lead) Total value £1311256; Hutton £96651
  • 2014- 2018 Danish Government “BUFFERTECH-Optimization of Ecosystem Services Provided by Buffer Strips Using Novel Technological Methods”. Co-I, Total value £1258872; Hutton £75000
  • 2014-2017 BBSRC “Exploiting plant root exudation of organic acids and phytases to enhance plant utilisation of soil organic phosphorus”. PI, Total value £1250000; Hutton £626300

Past research

  • April 2011-present: Rhizosphere Scientist, James Hutton Institute, UK.
  • 2007-April 2011: Rhizosphere Scientist, SCRI, UK. Holder of Royal Society of Edinburgh Personal Fellowship
  • 2004-2007: Marie Curie International Fellowship. CSIRO Plant Industry, Australia and SCRI, UK.
  • 2001–2004: Post Doctoral Research Fellow. CSIRO Plant Industry, Australia.
  • 1997–2000: PhD Soil Science. Department of Soil Science, University of Reading, UK and ICRAF, Kenya.
  • 1993–1996: BSc Natural Resources (First Class, Honours). Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.

 

 

Publications

The following Publications have not yet been migrated to the James Hutton Institute's Pure service and relate to the research outputs from the two legacy organisations: The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and The Scottish Crop Research Institute.

Journals

Books / chapters

  • George, T.S.; Fransson, A.; Hammond, J.P.; White, P.J. (2011) Phosphorus nutrition: Rhizosphere processes, plant response and adaptations., In: Buenemann, E., Oberson, A. & Frossard, E. (eds.). Phosphorus in Action – Biological Processes in Soil Phosphorus Cycling. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands, Chapter 10, 245-271.
  • White, P.J.; Bengough, A.G.; Bingham, I.J.; George, T.S.; Karley, A.J.; Valentine, T.A. (2009) Induced mutations affecting root architecture and mineral acquisition in barley., In: Shu, Q.Y. (ed.). Induced Plant Mutations in the Genomics Era. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, pp381-384
  • George, T.S.; Richardson, A.E. (2008) Potential and limitations to improving crops for enhanced phosphorus utilisation., In: White, P.J. & Hammond, J.P. (eds.). The Ecophysiology of Plant-Phosphorus Interactions. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Chapter12, pp247-270.

Technical / contract reports

  • Prashar, A.; George, T.S.; Ramsay, G.; Hallett, P.D.; Jones, H.G.; Hedley, P.E.; McNicol, J.W.; Dale, M.F.B.; White, P.J.; Bryan, G.J. (2010) Water use efficiency in potato., Annual Report of the Scottish Crop Research Institute for 2009, pp42-44.
  • George, T.S.; Wishart, J.; Brown, L.K.; Ramsay, G.; Bradshaw, J.E.; Gregory, P.J.; White, P.J. (2009) Variation in drought tolerance in potatoes., BPC Report.
  • George, T.S.; Brown, L.; Wishart, J.; Thompson, J.; Wright, G.M.; Ramsay, G.; Bradshaw, J.E.; White, P.J. (2008) Phosphorus efficient potatoes., Annual Report of the Scottish Crop Research Institute for 2007, pp42-43.

Conference papers

  • White, P.J.; Hallett, P.D.; McKenzie, B.M.; George, T.S.; Wheatley, R.E. (2011) The contribution of waste recycling to future food security., International Conference on Food Security: Crop Production and Resource Use, Beijing, China, 7-12 September 2011.
  • Skiba, M.W.; George, T.S.; Baggs, E.M.; Daniell, T.J. (2011) Influence of different barley cultivars on nitrification in soil., British Society of Soil Science Early Researchers’ Conference, University of York, 23-24 March 2011.
  • George, T.S.; Brown, L.K.; White, P.J. (2011) Impact of root hairs on tolerance to combined stress by plants., Rhizosphere 3 International Conference, Perth, Australia, 25-30 September 2011.
  • George, T.S. (2011) Gene x environment: Impacts on improving P acquisition by cereals., Scottish Society for Crop Research – Harvesting Opportunites, Perth, 24 February 2011.
  • George, T.S.; Wishart, J.; Brown, L.K.; White, P.J. (2011) Potato rooting systems for sustainable production., Scottish Society for Crop Research: Winter Potato Meeting, SCRI, Invergowrie, 10 February 2011.
  • Brown, L.K.; George, T.S.; Thompson, J.A.; Wright, G.M.; Thomas, W.T.B.; Lyon, J.; White, P.J.; Hubbard, S.F. (2010) Genotypic variation in root traits involved in phosphorus utilisation by barley., Scottish Plant Biology Meeting, University of Dundee, 22 April 2010.
  • Prashar, A.; Roberts, A.G.; George, T.S.; Ramsay, G.; Hallett, P.D.; Jones, H.G.; Hedley, P.E.; McNicol, J.W.; Dale, M.F.B.; W hite, P.J.; Bryan, G.J. (2010) Water use efficiency in potatoes: traits to phenotype., EAPR Eucarpia Congress 2010, Wageningen, Netherlands, 27-30 June 2010. Potato Research, 53, 209-210.
  • Stutter, M.; Shand, C.A.; Haygarth, P.; George, T.S.; Blackwell, M.; Dixon, L. (2010) Forms of phosphorus in UK soils and sustainable agronomic production., 6th International Phosphorus Workshop (IPW 6), Seville, Spain, 27 September – 1 October 2010.
  • Stutter, M.I.; Shand, C.; George, T.; Blackwell, M.; Dixon, L.; Darch, T.; Roberts, W.; Haygarth, P. (2010) An inventory of UK soil phosphorus and the implications for sustainable food production., International Phosphorus Workshop 6, Seville, September 2010.
  • Brown, L.K.; George, T.S.; Wishart, J.; Thompson, J.A.; Wright, G.M.; Thomas, W.T.B.; Lyon, J.; Forster, B.P.; Alexander, J.; White, P.J. (2009) Genotypic variation in root traits involved in phosphorus utilisation by barley., Plant Soil Interactions, Joint Meeting of the Scottish Root Group and the Scottish Soils Discussion Group of the British Society of Soil Science, MLURI, Aberdeen, 3 November 2009.
  • Prashar, A.; Wishart, J.; George, T.S.; Brown, L.K.; Thompson, J.A.; Ramsay, G.; Bradshaw, J.E.; White, P.J.; Bryan, G.J.; Gregory, P.J. (2009) Root architecture in potato: potential for improving resource capture and QTL mapping., 2nd Meeting of the International Network of Abiotic Stress (INPAS): Plant Abiotic Stress – From Signalling to Development, Tartu, Estonia, 14-17 May 2009.
  • Fankem, H.; Din, N.; Nwaga, D.; Daniell, T.J.; George, T.S. (2009) Preliminary selection of phosphate solubilising plant growth promoting microorganisms., Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting, Glasgow, 28 June – 1 July 2009.
  • Wishart, J.; George, T.S.; Brown, L.K.; Thompson, J.A.; Ramsay, G.; Bradshaw, J.E.; White, P.J.; Gregory, P.J. (2009) Variation in rooting habit of potatoes: potential for improving resource capture., 7th International Symposium of the Society for Root Research: Root Research and Applications, Vienna, Austria, 2-4 September 2009.
  • Fankem, H.; Din, N.; Nwaga, D.; Daniell, T.J.; George, T.S. (2009) Phosphate solubilization by rhizosphere fungi (Aspergillus and Penicillium) isolated from Cameroonian soils and their effect on growth and nutrient uptake of barley., 15th Molecular Microbial Ecology Group Meeting, University of Aberdeen, 29-30 July 2009.
  • George, T.S.; Brown, L.K.; Newton, A.C.; Hallett, P.D.; Thomas, W.T.B.; White, P.J. (2009) Impact of soil tillage on the robustness of the genetic component of variation in phosphorus use efficiency in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)., XVI International Plant Nutrition Colloquium ‘Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Development and Global Health’, Sacramento, California, USA, 26-30 August 2009. Abstracts and Programme, 175.
  • George, T.S.; Wishart, J.; Brown, L.K.; Ramsay, G.; Bradshaw, J.E.; Gregory, P.J.; White, P.J. (2009) Variation in drought tolerance in potatoes., Potatoes in Practice, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee, 13 August 2009.
  • Fankem, H.; Din, N.; Nwaga, D.; Daniell, T.J.; George, T.S. (2009) Phosphate solubilization by rhizosphere fungi (Aspergillus and Penicillium) isolated from Cameroonian soils and their effect on growth and nutrient uptake of barley., 8th International Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Workshop, Portland, Oregon, USA, 17-22 May 2009.
  • George, T.S.; Brown, L.K.; Daniell, T.J.; Gregory, P.J.; Richardson, A.E. (2009) Microbial community structure in the rhizosphere of tobacco plants engineered to release fungal phytase from roots., 7th International Symposium of the Society for Root Research: Root Research and Applications, Vienna, Austria, 2-4 September 2009.
  • George, T.S. (2008) The influence of soil properties on the effectiveness of transgenic expression of genes targeting rhizosphere processes., British Society of Soil Science Autumn Meeting, Something Old, Something New: Integrating Molecular Biology with other Techniques in Soil Science, Rothamsted, 17 September 2008.
  • George, T.S.; Wishart, J.; Brown, L.K.; Ramsay, G.; Bradshaw, J.E.; Gregory, P.J.; White, P.J. (2008) Variation in drought tolerance in potatoes., Potatoes in Practice 2008, Dundee, 7 August 2008.
  • Richardson, A.E.; George, T.S.; Sumei, L.; Gregory, P.J.; Daniell, T.J. (2008) Microbial community structure in the rhizosphere of tobacco plants engineered to release fungal phytase from roots., 12th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME-12), Cairns, Australia, 17-22 August 2008.
  • George, T.S.; Wishart, J.; Brown, L.K.; Ramsay, G.; Ramsay, L.; Ramsey, R.; Gregory, P.J.; White, P.J. (2008) Variation in roots and rhizosphere: potential for improving resource capture in crop plants., XVI Congress of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology, Tampere, Finland, 17-22 August 2008.
  • George, T.S.; Brown, L.K.; White, P.J. (2008) Variation in rooting habit of potatoes: Potential for improving resource capture., Scottish Plant Biology Meeting, SCRI & University of Dundee, Invergowrie, Dundee, 11 January 2008.
  • Brown, L.K.; George, T.S.; Thompson, J.A.; White, P.J.; Ramsay, G.; Gregory, P.J. (2007) Variation in rooting habit of potatoes: potential for improving resource capture., British Society of Soil Science, Scottish Root Group Meeting, University of Aberdeen, 14 September 2007.
  • George, T.S.; Simpson, R.J.; Richardson, A.E. (2007) Interaction of phytases in the rhizosphere and hydrolysis of inositol phosphates., Rhizosphere 2. Montpellier, France, 26-31 August 2007.
  • George, T.S.; Richardson, A.E.; Simpson, R.J. (2006) Engineering plants to influence rhizosphere biochemistry: Potential benefits to plant nutrition., 18th World Congress of Soil Science, Philadelphia, USA, 9-15 July 2006.
  • Gregory, P.J.; George, T.S. (2005) Soil management for nutrient use efficiency: an overview., International Fertiliser Society, York, 2005.

Conference posters / abstracts

  • George, T.S.; White, P.J.; Brown, L.K.; Wright, G.M.; Thompson, J. (2011) Use and abuse of mineral nutrients – improving our future relationship with phosphorus., LEAF Open Farm Sunday, James Hutton Institute, Dundee, 12 June 2011. (Poster/Demonstration)
  • Skiba, M.W.; George, T.S.; Baggs, E.M.; Daniell, T.J. (2011) Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) in arable plants – a potential for reducing nitrogen losses from agriculture., Theo Murphy Meeting. International Scientific Meeting on Nitrous Oxide, the Forgotten Greenhouse Gas, The Kavli Royal Society International Centre, Newport Pagnall, 23-24 May 2011 (Poster).
  • Skiba, M.W.; George, T.S.; Baggs, E.M.; Daniell, T.J. (2011) Plant and soil microbe interactions in agriculture – nitrification inhibition as a case study., The Rank Prize Fund Mini-Symposium on Roots for Improving Resource Acquisition in Crops, Grasmere, 11-14 April 2011 (Poster).
  • Daniell, T.J.; Skiba, M.W.; King, D.; Mitchell, S.M.; Baggs, E.M.; George, T.S. (2010) Effects of barley cultivar on microbial community structure: a hierarchical approach., 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME13), Seattle, WA, USA, 22-27 August 2010 (Poster).
  • Prashar, A.; Roberts, A.G.; King, D.; Jones, H.G.; Ramsay, G.; Hallett, P.D.; George, T.S.; Hedley, P.E.; McNicol, J.W.; Dale, M.F.B.; White, P.J.; Bryan, G.J. (2010) Water use efficiency in potato., 7th Solanaceae Conference 2010, Dundee, 5-9 September 2010, 161. (Poster)
  • Skiba, M.W.; George, T.S.; Baggs, E.M.; Daniell, T.J. (2010) Biological nitrification inhibition under different barley cultivars., Biochemical Society. Enzymology and Ecology of the Nitrogen Cycle, Birmingham, 15-17 September 2010 (Poster).
  • Brown, L.K.; George, T.S.; Thompson, J.A.; Wright, G.M.; Lyon, J.; Hubbard, S.F.; White, P.J. (2010) What are the implications of variation in root hair length on P-limited yield in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)?., SEB Annual Main Meeting 2010, Prague, Czech Republic, 30 June-3 July 2010 (Poster).
  • George, T.S.; Brown, L.K.; Barrett, G.; Dupuy, L.; White, P.J. (2010) Genotypic variation in the ability of barley to tolerate multiple abiotic stresses., SEB Annual Main Meeting 2010, Prague, Czech Republic, 30 June-3 July 2010 (Poster).
  • Barrett, G.; Wishart, J.; George, T.S. (2010) The genetic basis of phosphorus use efficiency in barley., Spring School – RNAi and the World of Small RNA Molecules, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, 14-16 April 2010 (Poster).
  • Brown, L.K.; George, T.S.; Wishart, J.; Thompson, J.A.; Wright, G.M.; Thomas, W.T.B.; Lyon, J.; Forster, B.P.; Alexander, J.; White, P.J. (2009) Genotypic variation in root traits involved in phosphorus utilization by barley., 7th International Symposium of the Society for Root Research: Root Research and Applications, Vienna, Austria, 2-4 September 2009 (Abstract).
  • Shand, C.A.; Stutter, M.I.; George, T.; MacKay, G.; Haygarth, P.; Bol, R.; Dixon, L. (2009) 31P NMR study of phosphorus in soils., 42nd International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) 2009 Congress Meeting, SECC, Glasgow, 2-7 August 2009.
  • George, T.S. (2008) Do traditional Scottish landraces of barley have traits which could improve modern cultivars resilience to nutritional drought?, The Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship Awards Ceremony 2008. Edinburgh, 26 September 2008 (Poster).
  • Brown, L.K.; George, T.S.; Thompson, J.A.; Wishart, J.; White, P.J. (2008) Pilot study to investigate the variation in rooting habit of potatoes: initial screen and field trial., AAB Meeting Resource Capture by Crops: Integrated Approaches, University of Nottingham, 10-12 September 2008 (Poster).
  • White, P.J.; Bengough, A.G.; Bingham, I.J.; George, T.S.; Karley, A.J.; Valentine, T.A. (2008) Induced mutations affecting root architecture and mineral acquisition in barley., Joint FAO/IAEA International Symposium on Induced Mutations in Plants, Vienna, Austria, 12-15 August 2008, 143.

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