Rumiana Ray

Contact

• workRoom 303 South Laboratory
  Sutton Bonington Campus
  Sutton Bonington
  Leicestershire
  LE12 5RD
  UK
• work0115 951 6049
• rumiana.ray@nottingham.ac.uk
• http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences/people/rumiana.ray

Biography

2021-present Professor in Plant Pathology

2016-2021 Associate Professor in Crop Pathology, University of Nottingham

2008-2016 Assistant Professor in Crop Science, University of Nottingham

2003-2008 Research Fellow Plant Pathology, Harper Adams University

Editor for Plant Pathology and Frontiers in Plant Science

Expertise Summary

• Development of novel approaches and field technologies for pathogen/disease detection:
  • multispectral, hyperspectral and fluorescence signals to identify disease signatures and vision-based disease sensing for field use
  • molecular diagnostics for soil and plant pathogens
• Physiological and genetic mechanisms of host-pathogen and pest-host-pathogen interactions and their consequences for crop protection
• Chemical control: Dr Ray collaborates with agrii industry on understanding the phytoactivity and bioaction of novel crop protection molecules
• Integrated disease management in cereals and oilseed rape

Teaching Summary

Teaching interests are within the areas of crop protection and plant pathology.

Convener:

BIOS 2014 Enterprise management challenge, level 2

BIOS 3011 Plant Disease Control, level 3

Contributor:

Plant Science Research Tutorials

Genetic Improvement of Crop Plants

Research Summary

Focussed on improving plant health, crop productivity and protection against pathogenic and pest threats to global food security. We aim to develop sustainable, integrated control strategies for… read more

Recent Publications

• DASUNI P. JAYAWEERA, CHARLENE DAMBIRE, DIMITRA ANGELOPOULOU, SERGI MUNNÉ-BOSCH, RANJAN SWARUP and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2024. Physiological, molecular, and genetic mechanism of action of the biostimulant Quantis™ for increased thermotolerance of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture. 11(9),
• SAFIEDDIN INBAIA, ARIFA FAROOQI and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2023. Aggressiveness and mycotoxin profile of Fusarium avenaceum isolates causing Fusarium seedling blight and Fusarium head blight in UK malting barley Frontiers in Plant Science. 14,
• ISABELLE SIMS, DASUNI JAYAWEERA, KAMAL SWARUP and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2023. Molecular Characterization of Defense of Brassica napus (Oilseed Rape) to Rhizoctonia solani AG2-1 Confirmed by Functional Analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Phytopathology. 113(8), 1525 -1536
• HANNAH R. BLYTH, DAN SMITH, ROBERT KING, CARLOS BAYON, TOM ASHFIELD, HANNAH WALPOLE, EUDRI VENTER, RUMIANA V. RAY, KOSTYA KANYUKA and JASON J. RUDD, 2023. Fungal plant pathogen “mutagenomics” reveals tagged and untagged mutations in Zymoseptoria tritici and identifies SSK2 as key morphogenesis and stress-responsive virulence factor Frontiers in Plant Science.

• View all publications

Current Research

Focussed on improving plant health, crop productivity and protection against pathogenic and pest threats to global food security. We aim to develop sustainable, integrated control strategies for economically damaging diseases and/or pests. Main diseases of interest include Fusarium head blight of cereals, the soil-borne/stem-base disease complexes and Septoria tritici blotch of wheat. We are interested in the biology and control of sucking pests such as aphids and their interactions with crop hosts and plant pathogens.

Areas of research:

• novel approaches and field technologies for pathogen/disease detection in the environment
• physiological and genetic mechanisms of dual (host-pathogen) and tripartite (pest-host-pathogen) interactions
• phytoactivity, bioaction and effectiveness of novel crop protection active compounds

Research fellows and projects

BBSRC Dr Olubukola Ajigboye: Hijacking plant immunity: winners and losers in dual pest and pathogen attacks on a shared host

Syngenta Dr Dasuni Jayaweera: Molecular detection and quantification systems for soil pathogens

Syngenta: Physiological and genetic effects of biostimulants in crops

PhD students and projects:

BBSRC DTP Samuel Asamoah: Fusarium graminearium-aphid interactions in wheat

BBSRC DTP Isabelle Sims: Mechanisms of resistance of oilseed rape to Rhizoctonia solani AG2-1

BBSRC iCase with RAGT Patrick Seed: Mapping of Cougar resistance to Zymoseptoria tritici in wheat

Perry Foundation/RRES/UoN Dimitra Angelopolou: The role of photoprotection in wheat defence to Zymoseptoria tritici

Oman MoA Nasser Al-Abri: Biology and control of the dubas bug in date palm

Past Research

BBSRC/AHDB/Syngenta AGRI-TECH Cat5 ICAROS Integrated control of Rhizoctonia solani in OSR

BBSRC/Agrii/RAGT AGRI-TECH Cat 4 CAPTURE Developing novel sensors for disease and resilience in wheat

Syngenta: Integrated control of Fusarium head blight in wheat

BBSRC/TSB: Protecting the malting and brewing quality of UK barley cultivars through effective control strategies against Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) (SAFEMalt)

AHDB, British Wheat Breeders, BASFplc, Bayer CropScience Ltd, Syngenta Crop Protection UK Ltd: Forecasting eyespot development and yield losses in winter wheat

Future Research

PhD BBSRC/Syngenta iCase: Identification of candidate genes for resistance to aphids in wheat

• DASUNI P. JAYAWEERA, CHARLENE DAMBIRE, DIMITRA ANGELOPOULOU, SERGI MUNNÉ-BOSCH, RANJAN SWARUP and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2024. Physiological, molecular, and genetic mechanism of action of the biostimulant Quantis™ for increased thermotolerance of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture. 11(9),
• SAFIEDDIN INBAIA, ARIFA FAROOQI and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2023. Aggressiveness and mycotoxin profile of Fusarium avenaceum isolates causing Fusarium seedling blight and Fusarium head blight in UK malting barley Frontiers in Plant Science. 14,
• ISABELLE SIMS, DASUNI JAYAWEERA, KAMAL SWARUP and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2023. Molecular Characterization of Defense of Brassica napus (Oilseed Rape) to Rhizoctonia solani AG2-1 Confirmed by Functional Analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Phytopathology. 113(8), 1525 -1536
• HANNAH R. BLYTH, DAN SMITH, ROBERT KING, CARLOS BAYON, TOM ASHFIELD, HANNAH WALPOLE, EUDRI VENTER, RUMIANA V. RAY, KOSTYA KANYUKA and JASON J. RUDD, 2023. Fungal plant pathogen “mutagenomics” reveals tagged and untagged mutations in Zymoseptoria tritici and identifies SSK2 as key morphogenesis and stress-responsive virulence factor Frontiers in Plant Science.
• JACQUELINE STROUD, DASUNI JAYAWEERA and RUMIANA RAY, 2022. Reducing crop disease risk through residue management (AHDB/BBSRC net-zero partnership)
• DASUNI JAYAWEERA and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2022. Yield loss and integrated disease control of Rhizoctonia solani AG2-1 using seed treatment and sowing rate of oilseed rape Plant Disease.
• NASSER AL-ABRI, SUAD AL-RAQAMI, MARYAM AL-HASHEMI, RASHID AL-SHIDI, SALIM AL-KHATRI and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2022. Impact of Initial Population Density of the Dubas Bug, Ommatissus lybicus (Hemiptera: Tropiduchidae), on Oviposition Behaviour, Chlorophyll, Biomass and Nutritional Response of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) Insects. 14(12),
• HENRY J. TIDD, JASON RUDD, RUMIANA V. RAY, RUTH BRYANT and KOSTYA KANYUKA, 2022. A Large Bioassay Identifies Stb Resistance Genes that Provide Broad Resistance against Septoria Tritici Blotch Disease in the UK Frontiers in Plant Science. 13,
• AJIGBOYE, OLUBUKOLA O., JAYAWEERA, DASUNI P., ANGELOPOULOU, DIMITRA, RUBAN, ALEXANDER, V, MURCHIE, ERIK H., PASTOR, VICTORIA, SUMMERS, RICHARD and RAY, RUMIANA, V, 2021. The role of photoprotection in defence of two wheat genotypes against Zymoseptoria tritici PLANT PATHOLOGY. 70(6), 1421-1435
• RAY, RUMIANA, 2021. Plant pathology and plant pathogens, 4th edition PLANT PATHOLOGY. 70(5), 1260-1260
• BROWN, MATTHEW, JAYAWEERA, DASUNI, HUNT, ANNABEL, WOODHALL, JAMES WARWICK and RAY, RUMIANA V, 2021. Yield losses and control by sedaxane and fludioxonil of soil-borne Rhizoctonia, Microdochium and Fusarium species in winter wheat. Plant disease.
• MATTHEW BROWN, JAMES W. WOODHALL, LINDA K. NIELSEN, DANIEL TOMLINSON, ARIFA FAROOQI and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2020. Population dynamics of Rhizoctonia , Oculimacula , and Microdochium species in soil, roots, and stems of English wheat crops Plant Pathology.
• RUMIANA RAY, DASUNI JAYAWEERA, MICHAEL TAIT and AMANDA BENNETT, 2020. Rhizoctonia solani guidelines
• RUMIANA RAY, D JAYAWEERA, N GRAHAM, C STURROCK and T JILANI, 2020. Integrating Control strategies Against soilborne Rhizoctonia solani in OilSeed rape (ICAROS)
• VICENTE J, MENDIONDO GM, PAUWELS J, PASTOR V, IZQUIERDO Y, NAUMANN C, MOVAHEDI M, ROONEY D, GIBBS DJ, SMART K, BACHMAIR A, GRAY JE, DISSMEYER N, CASTRESANA C, RAY RV, GEVAERT K and HOLDSWORTH MJ, 2019. Distinct branches of the N-end rule pathway modulate the plant immune response. New Phytologist. 221, 988–1000
• CHRISTOPHER J. TILL, JORGE VICENTE, HONGTAO ZHANG, MARIA OSZVALD, MICHAEL J. DEERY, VICTORIA PASTOR, KATHRYN S. LILLEY, RUMIANA V. RAY, FREDERICA L. THEODOULOU and MICHAEL J. HOLDSWORTH, 2019. The plant-specific N-recognin E3 ligase PROTEOLYSIS1 influences the immune response: The Arabidopsis N-recognin E3 ligase PROTEOLYSIS1 influences the immune response Plant Direct. 3(12),
• RV RAY, A MASON, D TOMLINSON, K OSDEMIR and M BROWN, 2019. Using molecular methods to study eyespot disease on wheat
• OLUBUKOLA O. AJIGBOYE, RUMIANA V. RAY and ERIK H. MURCHIE, 2018. Chlorophyll fluorescence on the fast timescale. In: SARAH COVSHOFF, ed., Photosynthesis: Methods and Protocols 1. 1770. Humana Press. (In Press.)
• JONES, STEPHEN, FAROOQI, ARIFA, FOULKES, JOHN, SPARKES, DEBBIE L., LINFORTH, ROBERT and RAY, RUMIANA V., 2018. Canopy and Ear Traits Associated With Avoidance of Fusarium Head Blight in Wheat FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE. 9,
• FRYNI DRIZOU, TOBY BRUCE, RUMIANA V. RAY and NEIL GRAHAM, 2018. Infestation by Myzus persicae increases susceptibility of Brassica napus cv. ‘Canard’ to Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-1 Frontiers in Plant Science. (In Press.)
• DRAKULIC, J., BRUCE, T. J. A. and RAY, R. V., 2017. Direct and host-mediated interactions between Fusarium pathogens and herbivorous arthropods in cereals Plant Pathology. 66(1), 3-13
• FRYNI DRIZOU, NEIL S. GRAHAM, TOBY J. A. BRUCE and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2017. Development of high-throughput methods to screen disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-1 in oilseed rape Plant Methods. 13(45),
• DIDIER G. LEIBOVICI, SUCHITH ANAND, ROBERTO SANTOS, SEAN MAYES, RUMIANA RAY, MASOUD AL-AZRI, ABDUL BATEN, GRAHAM KING, ASHA S. KARUNARATNE, SAYED AZAM-ALI and MIKE J. JACKSON, 2017. Geospatial binding for transdisciplinary research in crop science: the GRASPgfs initiative Open Geospatial Data, Software and Standards. 2, 20
• S. M. IMATHIU, R. V. RAY, M. BACK, M. C. HARE and S. G. EDWARDS, 2017. Agronomic Practices Influence the Infection of an Oats Cultivar with Fusarium langsethiae Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica. 1-13
• OLUBUKOLA AJIGBOYE, LOUISE BOUSQUET, ERIK H. MURCHIE and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2016. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters allow the rapid detection and differentiation of plant responses in three different wheat pathosystems Functional Plant Biology. 43(4), 356-369
• XINGPING YANG, RUNSHENG REN, RUMIANA RAY, JINHUA XU, PINGFANG LI, MAN ZHANG, GUANG LIU, XIEFENG YAO and ANDRZEJ KILIAN, 2016. Genetic diversity and population structure of core watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) genotypes using DArTseq based SNPs Plant Genetic Resources. 14(3), 226-233
• RUNSHENG REN, JOHN FOULKES, SEAN MAYES, XINGPING YANG and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2016. Identification of novel quantitative trait loci for resistance to Fusarium seedling blight caused by Microdochium majus and M. nivale in wheat Field Crops Research. 191, 1-12
• OLUBUKOLA O. AJIGBOYE, CHUNGUI LU, ERIK H. MURCHIE, CHRISTIAN SCHLATTER, GINA SWART and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2016. Altered gene expression by sedaxane increases PSII efficiency, photosynthesis and growth and improves tolerance to drought in wheat seedlings Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology.
• JASSY DRAKULIC, OLUBUKOLA AJIGBOYE, RANJAN SWARUP, TOBY BRUCE and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2016. Aphid infestation increases Fusarium langsethiae and T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins in wheat: Aphids increase T-2 and HT-2 toxins in wheat Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 82, 6548-6556
• SANTOS, ROBERTO, HUYNH CHI, DAI, ANAND, SUCHITH, RAY, RUMIANA, MAYES, SEAN and LEIBOVICI, DIDIER, 2016. A geoprocessing modelling interoperable framework for AgriGIS using open data and open standards PeerJ Preprints. 4(e2136v2),
• J. W. WOODHALL, M. J. BROWN, K. PERKINS, E. SOMOZA VALDEOLMILLOS, N. BOONHAM and R. V. RAY, 2016. A TaqMan real-time PCR assay for Rhizoctonia cerealis and its use in wheat and soil European Journal of Plant Pathology.
• JASSY DRAKULIC, MOHD HAZIQ KAHAR, OLUBUKOLA AJIGBOYE, TOBY BRUCE and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2016. Contrasting Roles of Deoxynivalenol and Nivalenol in Host-Mediated Interactions between Fusarium graminearum and Sitobion avenae Toxins. 8(12), 353
• S. M. IMATHIU, R. V. RAY, M. BACK, M. HARE and S. G. EDWARDS, 2016. In vitro growth characteristics of Fusarium langsethiae isolates recovered from oats and wheat grain in the UK Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica. 51(2), 159-169
• RUNSHENG REN, RUMIANA RAY, PINGFANG LI, JINHUA XU, MAN ZHANG, GUANG LIU, XIEFENG YAO, ANDRZEJ KILIAN and XINGPING YANG, 2015. Construction of a high-density DArT-Seq SNP-based genetic map and identification of genomic regions with segregation distortion in a genetic population derived from a cross between feral and cultivated type watermelon Molecular Genetics and Genomics. 290(4), 1457-1470
• JASSY DRAKULIC, JOHN CAULFIELD, CHRISTINE WOODCOCK, STEPHEN P. T. JONES, ROBERT LINFORTH, TOBY J. A. BRUCE and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2015. Sharing a host plant, wheat (Triticum aestivum), increases the fitness of Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium head blight (FHB) severity but reduces the fitness of grain aphids (Sitobion avenae): Fusarium graminearum infection renders wheat repellent to aphids Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 81(10), 3492-3501
• STURROCK CJ, WOODHALL J, BROWN M, WALKER C, MOONEY SJ and RAY RV, 2015. Effects of damping-off caused by Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group 2-1 on roots of wheat and oil seed rape quantified using X-ray Computed Tomography and real-time PCR: Effects of R. solani AG2-1 on wheat and OSR roots using X-ray μCT Frontiers in Plant Science. 6, 461
• L.K. NIELSEN, D.J. COOK, S.G. EDWARDS and R.V. RAY, 2014. The prevalence and impact of Fusarium Head Blight pathogens and mycotoxins on malting barley quality in UK International Journal of Food Microbiology. 179, 38-49
• OLUBUKOLA O. AJIGBOYE, ERIK MURCHIE and RUMIANA V. RAY, 2014. Foliar application of isopyrazam and epoxiconazole improves photosystem II efficiency, biomass and yield in winter wheat Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology. 114, 52-60
• SAMUEL M. IMATHIU, RUMIANA V. RAY, MATTHEW A. BACK and SIMON G. EDWARDS, 2014. Artificial inoculum and inoculation techniques commonly used in the investigation of Fusarium head blight in cereals Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica. 49(1), 129-140
• REN, R, XINPING, X and RAY, RV, 2014. Comparative aggressiveness of Microdochium nivale and M. majus and evaluation of screening methods for Fusarium seedling blight resistance in wheat cultivars European Journal of Plant Pathology. 141(2), 281-294
• BROWN, M.J., WOODHALL, J., MOONEY, S.J. and RAY, R.V., 2014. The occurrence and population dynamics of Rhizoctonia solani in soil of winter wheat In: Proceedings Crop Protection in Northern Britain. 107-112
• SAMUEL M. IMATHIU, SIMON G. EDWARDS, RUMIANA V. RAY and MATTHEW A. BACK, 2013. Fusarium langsethiae - a HT-2 and T-2 Toxins Producer that Needs More Attention Journal of Phytopathology. 1(161), 1-10
• IMATHIU, S.M., RAY, R.V., BACK, M.I., HARE, M.C. and EDWARDS, S.G., 2013. A survey investigating the infection of Fusarium langsethiae and production of HT-2 and T-2 mycotoxins in UK oat fields Journal of Phytopathology. 161(7-8), 553-561
• S.R. PIRGOZLIEV, R.V. RAY, S.G. EDWARDS, M.C. HARE and P. JENKINSON, 2012. Studies on the interactions between fungicides, Alternaria tenuissima, Cladosporium herbarum and Microdochium spp., on Fusarium head blight (FHB) development and deoxynivalenol (DON) concentration in grain caused by Fusarium culmorum Cereal Reserach Communications. 40(4), 509-517
• EDWARDS, S.G., IMATHIU, S.M., RAY, R.V., BACK, M. and HARE, M.C., 2012. Molecular studies to identify the Fusarium species responsible for HT-2 and T-2 mycotoxins in UK oats. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 156(2), 168-175
• A.L. MASON, J. WOODHALL, J. PETERS, M. DICKINSON and R.V. RAY, 2012. Developing novel methods to investigate the relationship between eyespot disease and yield loss In: Proceedings Crop Protection in Northern Britain 2012. 181-186
• F. BURNETT, S. KNIGHT and R. RAY, 2012. Managing eyespot in winter wheat: Topic Sheet 111/Spring 2012
• FIONA BURNETT, CLARE BUTLER-ELLIS, GARETH HUGHES, STUART KNIGHT and RUMIANA RAY, 2012. Forecasting eyespot development and yield losses in winter wheat HGCA.
• IMATHIU, S.M., HARE, M.C., RAY, R.V., BACK, M. and EDWARDS, S.G., 2010. Evaluation of pathogenicity and aggressiveness of F. langsethiae on oat and wheat seedlings relative to known seedling blight pathogens European Journal of Plant Pathology. 126(2), 203-216
• IMATHIU, S.M., RAY, R.V., BACK, M., HARE, M.C. and EDWARDS, S.G., 2009. Fusarium langsethiae pathogenicity and aggressiveness towards oats and wheat in wounded and unwounded in vitro detached leaf assays European Journal of Plant Pathology. 124(1), 117-126
• PIRGOZLIEV, S.R., RAY, R.V., EDWARDS, S.G., HARE, M.C. and JENKINSON, P., 2008. Effect of timing of fungicide application on the development of Fusarium head blight and the accumulation of deoxynivalenol (DON) in winter wheat grain Cereal Research Communications. 36(2), 289-299
• GLYNN, NC, RAY, R, EDWARDS, SG, HARE, MC, PARRY, DW, BARNETT, CJ and BECK, JJ, 2007. Quantitative Fusarium Spp. And Microdochium Spp. Pcr Assays To Evaluate Seed Treatments For The Control Of Fusarium Seedling Blight Of Wheat Journal Of Applied Microbiology. 102(6), 1645-1653
• RAY, RV, CROOK, MJ, JENKINSON, P and EDWARDS, SG, 2006. Effect Of Eyespot Caused By Oculimacula Yallundae And O-Acuformis, Assessed Visually And By Competitive Pcr, On Stem Strength Associated With Lodging Resistance And Yield Of Winter Wheat Journal Of Experimental Botany. 57(10), 2249-2257