Biography
Akis joined the James Hutton Institute in 2022 as a Research Scientist at the Molecular Physiology & Genetics group. He previously completed a PhD at The James Hutton Institute and the University of St Andrews, where he studied the genomic impact of selection for virulence in potato cyst nematodes (PCN) to potato resistances and utilised genomic tools for the identification of avirulence genes.
He holds a BSc in Agricultural Engineering and a MSc in Plant Protection and Environment from the Agricultural University of Athens (Greece), as well as a second MSc in Plant Sciences with a specialisation in Plant Pathology and Entomology from Wageningen University (the Netherlands). In addition to his academic background, he has significant industry experience in genomics, NGS analyses, and the application of NGS technologies, particularly Illumina platform.
Research
Akis’ current research projects include:
- RNA-seq analysis to study heat and drought tolerance in potato
- Establishing a pipeline for designing and screening CRISPR-Cas9 gene-edited potatoes
- Screening potato germplasm for tolerance to potato cyst nematodes (PCN) for marker-associated discovery
- Screening of potato germplasm for flood tolerance for markers-associated discovery
- Optimising Genetics by Management (GxM) interactions to enhance productivity and quality in indoor lettuce cultivation
He is also involved in the Scottish potato cyst nematodes (PCN) working group (WP tolerance to potato cyst nematodes).
Past research
- 2019: Research Assistant in plant nematology (University of St Andrews).
- 2015 – 2019: PhD in plant nematology (The James Hutton Institute & the University of St Andrews). Thesis title: Genome-based approaches for identification of avirulence genes in potato cyst nematodes.
Previous Publications
Papasotiriou, F.; Varypatakis, K.; Christofi, C.; Tjamos, S.E.; Paplomatas, E.J. (2013) Olive mill wastes: a source of resistance for plants against Verticillium dahliae and a reservoir of biocontrol agents., Biological Control, 67(1), 51-60
Publications
Journals
- Sonawala, U.; Beasley, H.; Thorpe, P.; Varypatakis, K.; Senatori, B.; Jones, J.; Derevnina, L.; Eves-van den Akker, S. (2024) A gene with a thousand alleles: The hyper-variable effectors of plant-parasitic nematodes, Cell Genomics, 4(6), Art. 100580
- Varypatakis, K.; Véronneau, P-Y.; Thorpe, P.J.; Cock, P.J.A.; Tze-Yin Lim, J.; Armstrong, M.R.; Janakowski, S.; Sobczak, M.; Hein, I.; Mimee, B.; Jones, J.T.; Blok, V.C. (2020) The genomic impact of selection for virulence against resistance in the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida., Genes, 11, Article No. 1429.
- Varypatakis, K.; Jones, J.T.; Blok, V.C. (2019) Screening of populations of Globodera pallida selected for increased virulence on several potato varieties., Nematology, 21, 995-998.
