Research on molecular host-parasite interactions and innate immunity mechanisms in plants; interactions between effectors and R gene-encoded receptors; effector-triggered defence against apoplastic pathogens of oilseed rape; role of extracellular vesicles during apoplastic pathogenesis; temperature sensitivity of resistance (R gene-mediated, multigenic) against pathogens; diagnosis of symptomless infections; strategies for deployment of durable disease resistance; bioinformatic analysis of R genes; genomics and transcriptomics; targeted metabolomics and proteomics; molecular genetics; quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping; plant transformation and gene editing.

Education

Phd (University of California,  USA-1994)

Diploma (Albert Ludwigs University, Germany-1988 )

Henrik U. Stotz (HUS) joined the University of Hertfordshire as an EU Marie Curie FP7 Fellow in 2013. He is a Reader in Crop Protection and the primary focus of his research is on extracellular pathogens of arable crops with an emphasis on Brassica host species. His team studies important UK pathogens of oilseed rape (Brassica napus), including the globally important plant-pathogenic fungi Leptosphaeria maculans and Pyrenopeziza brassicae, which cause phoma stem canker and light leaf spot (LLS), respectively. Interests in insect herbivores have included flea beetle (FB) pests. Recent losses in acreage and yield of oilseed rape in the UK are largely attributable to LLS and cabbage stem FB; therefore their mechanisms of disease susceptibility and resistance are under investigation. HUS and his team uses a combination of molecular genetics, functional genomics, biochemistry, cellular biology and bioinformatics to better understand crop-pathogen interactions.

HUS has established funded international collaborations with teams in India (BBSRC Newton-Bhabha fund from 2018 to 2021) and Japan (JSPS in 2017 and 2025, Royal Society support from 2019 to 2021, invited professorship in 2023), who share interests in economically important fungal pathogens, e.g. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Alternaria brassicae and Fusarium oxysporum. HUS also contributed to a European BBSRC ERA/CAPS-funded consortium project on mechanistic analysis of quantitative disease resistance in brassicas by associative transcriptomics from 2015 to 2018. A KTN BBSRC CASE PhD studentship from 2015 to 2019 enabled research on temperature sensitivity of brassica resistance against L. maculans. HUS and his team work to liaise with plant breeders (Elsoms, LS Plant Breeding, KWS) and agricultural trusts (Chadacre Agricultural Trust, Morley Agricultural Trust, Felix Thornley Cobbold Trust, Perry Foundation) on funded projects.

HUS is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) and an Alumnus of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). He is a member of the British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP) and the UK Brassica Research Community (UK-BRC).