Pete oversees the primary research facilities group, Core Technologies, at the James Hutton Institute. This includes the Genomics, Imaging and Biotechnology facilities, each enabling and providing access for Hutton and collaborative groups to state-of-the-art sequencing, microscopy and transformation technologies respectively. He has extensive experience in developing and utilising high-throughput genomics resources in barley, including reference genome sequences, transcriptomics and high-throughput genotyping. Pete also works with many other research groups at the Hutton, and internationally, to help develop and exploit genomics tools in other major crop species, potato & soft fruit, their associated pathogens, and in environmental samples, including soil and rhizosphere microbiota.
In the last decade, ‘big’ sequencing data has helped drive identification of candidate genes and their variants for agronomically important traits. The Genomics facility exploits Next Generation Sequencing using Illumina platforms, a MiSeq and newly acquired NextSeq 2000, long-read sequencing is provided using Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and routine DNA extraction and Sanger sequencing services are also available. In conjunction with geneticists, environmental scientists and computational biologists at the Hutton, we can generate and utilise these large genomics datasets, enabling high-throughput variant discovery and gene expression analysis, essential for prioritising gene targets.
Employment History
Links:
[1] https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0866-324X