Research
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Software development: Design of TOPALi application for phylogenetic, positive selection, and recombination detection analyses.
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Statistics methodology: Methods to analyse of multiple sequence alignments, particularly to detect evidence of recombination.
Collaboration/Consultancy/Training:
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Application of statistical/evolutionary methods to molecular sequence data and genomics data.
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Providing training in molecular phylogenetics.
Areas of Expertise:
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Computational Molecular Biology.
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Molecular Sequence Analysis.
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Phylogenetics.
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Genomic Sequence Analysis.
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Systems Biology.
Publications
Journals
- Wang, H.; Wang, Y.; Humphris, S.; Nie, W.; Zhang, P.; Wright, F.; Campbell, E.; Hu, B.; Fan, J.; Toth, I. (2021) Pectobacterium atrosepticum KDPG aldolase, Eda, participates in the Entner-Doudoroff pathway and independently inhibits expression of virulence determinants., Molecular Plant Pathology, 22(2), 271-283
- Nishii, K.; Wright, F.; Chen, Y.Y.; Moller, M. (2018) Tangled history of a multigene family: The evolution of ISOPENTENYLTRANSFERASE genes., PLoS ONE, 13, Article No. e0201198
- Mclean, K.; Palarea-Albaladejo, J.; Currie, C.G.; Imrie, L.H.J.; Manson, E.D.T.; Fraser-Pitt, D.; Wright, F.; Alexander, C.J.; Pollock, K.G.J.; Allison, L.; Hanson, M.; Smith, D.G.E. (2018) Rapid and robust analytical protocol for E. coli STEC bacteria subspecies differentiation using whole cell MALDI mass spectrometry, Talanta, 182, 164-170
- Palarea-Albaladejo, J.; McLean, K.; Wright, F.; Smith, D.G.E. (2018) MALDIrppa: quality control and robust analysis for mass spectrometry data., Bioinformatics, 34, 522-523.
- Lazarova, S.S.; Brown, D.J.F.; Oliveira, C.M.G.; Fenton, B.; Mackenzie, K.; Wright, F.; Malloch, G.; Neilson, R. (2016) Diversity of endosymbiont bacteria associated with a non-filarial nematode group., Nematology, 18, 615-623.
- Schwerdt, J.G.; MacKenzie, K.; Wright, F.; Oehme, D.; Wagner, J.M.; Harvey, A.J.; Shirley, N.J.; Burton, R.A.; Schreiber, M.; Halpin, C.; Zimmer, J.; Marshall, D.F.; Waugh, R.; Fincher, G.B. (2015) Evolutionary dynamics of the cellulose synthase gene superfamily in grasses., Plant Physiology, 168, 968-983.
- Schreiber, M.; Wright, F.; MacKenzie, K.; Hedley, P.E.; Schwerdt, J.G.; Little, A.; Burton, R.A.; Fincher, G.B.; Marshall, D.; Waugh, R.; Halpin, C. (2014) The barley genome sequence assembly reveals three additional members of the CsIF (1,3;1,4) – beta-glucan synthase gene family., PLoS ONE, 9, Article No. e90888.
- Phillips, D.; Wnetrzak, J.; Nibau, C.; Barakate, A.; Ramsay, L.; Wright, F.; Higgins, J.D.; Perry, R.M.; Jenkins, G. (2013) Quantitative high resolution mapping of HvMLH3 foci in barley pachytene nuclei reveals a strong distal bias and weak interference., Journal of Experimental Botany, 64, 2139-2154.
- Wheelhouse, N.M.; Sait, M.; Aitchison, K.; Livingstone, M.; Wright, F.; McLean, K.; Inglis, N.F.; Smith, D.G.E.; Longbottom, D. (2012) Processing of chlamydia abortus polymorphic membrane protein 18D during the chlamydial developmental cycle., PLoS ONE, 7, Article No. e49190.
- Jupe, F.; Pritchard, L.; Etherington, G.; MacKenzie, K.; Cock, P.J.A.; Wright, F.; Sharma, S.K.; Bolser, D.; Bryan, G.J.; Jones, J.; Hein, I. (2012) Identification and localisation of the NB-LRR gene family within the potato genome., BMC Genomics,13, 1-14.
- Sait, M.; Clark, E.M.; Wheelhouse, N.; Spalding, L.; Livingstone, M.; Sachse, K.; Markey, B.K.; Magnino, S.; Siarkou, V.I.; Vretou, E.; Caro, M.R.; Yaga, R.; Lainson, F.A.; Smith, D.G.E.; Wright, F.; Longbottom, D. (2011) Genetic variability of Chlamydophila abortus strains assessed by PCR-RFLP analysis of polymorphic membrane protein-encoding genes., Veterinary Microbiology, 151, 284-290.
- Bayer, M.M.; Milne, I.; Stephen, G.; Shaw, P.; Cardle, L.; Wright, F.; Marshall, D.F. (2011) Comparative visualization of genetic and physical maps with Strudel., Bioinformatics, 27, 1307-1308.
- Wheelhouse, N.; Katzer, F.; Wright, F.; Longbottom, D. (2010) Novel chlamydia-like organisms as cause of bovine abortions, UK., Emerging Infectious Diseases, 16, 1323-1324.
- Ballingall, K.T.; Rocchi, M.; McKeever, D.J.; Wright, F. (2010) Trans-species polymorphism and selection in the MHC class II DRA genes of domestic sheep., PLoS ONE, 5, 1-10.
- Milne, I.; Bayer, M.M.; Cardle, L.; Shaw, P.; Stephen, G.; Wright, F.; Marshall, D.F. (2010) Tablet – next generation sequence assembly visualization., Bioinformatics, 26, 401-402.
- Milne, I.; Lindner, D.; Bayer, M.M.; Husmeier, D.; McGuire, G.; Marshall, D.F.; Wright, F. (2009) TOPALi v2: a rich graphical interface for evolutionary analyses of multiple alignments on HPC clusters and multi-core desktops., Bioinformatics, 25, 126-127.
- Ducreux, L.J.M.; Morris, W.L.; Prosser, I.M.; Morris, J.A.; Beale, M.H.; Wright, F.; Shepherd, T.; Bryan, G.J.; Hedley, P.E.; Taylor, M.A. (2008) Expression profiling of potato germplasm differentiated in quality traits leads to the identification of candidate flavour and texture genes., Journal of Experimental Botany, 59, 4219-4231.
- Opik, M.; Moora, M.; Zobel, M.; Saks, U.; Wheatley, R.E.; Wright, F.; Daniell, T.J. (2008) High diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a boreal, herb-rich, coniferous forest., New Phytologist, 179, 867-876.
- Liu, Z.; Bos, J.I.B.; Armstrong, M.R.; Whisson, S.C.; da Cunha, L.; Torto-Alalibo, T.; Win, J.; Avrova, A.O.; Wright, F.; Birch, P.R.J.; Kamoun, S. (2005) Patterns of diversifying selection in the phytotoxin-like scr74 gene family of Phytophthora infestans., Molecular Biology and Evolution, 22, 659-572.
- Husmeier, D.; Wright, F.; Milne, I. (2005) Detecting interspecific recombination with a pruned probabilistic divergence measure., Bioinformatics, 21, 1797-1806.
- Milne, I.; Wright, F.; Rowe, G.; Marshall, D.F.; Husmeier, D.; McGuire, G. (2004) TOPALi: software for automatic identification of recombinant sequences within DNA multiple alignments., Bioinformatics, 20, 1806-1807.
- Oliveira, C.M.G.; Hubschen, J.; Brown, D.J.F.; Ferraz, C.C.B.; Wright, F.; Neilson, R. (2004) Phylogenetic relationships among Xiphinema and Xiphidorus nematode species from Brazil inferred from 18S rDNA gene sequences., Journal of Nematology, 36, 153-159.
- Husmeier, D.; Wright, F. (2002) A Bayesian approach to discriminate between alternative DNA sequence segmentations., Bioinformatics, 18, 226-234.
- Husmeier, D.; Wright, F. (2001) Detection of recombination in DNA multiple alignments with hidden Markov models., Journal of Computational Biology, 8, 401-427.
- Taylor, M.A.; Ross, H.A.; McRae, D.; Wright, F.; Viola, R.; Davies, H.V. (2001) Copy-DNA cloning and characterisation of a potato alpha-glucosidase: expression in Esherichia coli and effects of down-regulation in transgenic potato., Planta, 213, 258-264.
- Husmeier, D.; Wright, F. (2001) Probabilistic divergence measures for detecting interspecies recombination., Bioinformatics, 1, 1-8
- Taylor, M.A.; Ross, H.A.; McRae, D.; Stewart, D.; Roberts, I.M.; Duncan, G.H.; Wright, F.; Millam, S.; Davies, H.V. (2000) A potato alpha-glucosidase gene encodes a glycoprotein processing alpha-glucosidase II-like activity. Demonstration of enzyme activity and effects of down-regulation in transgenic plants., Plant Journal, 24, 305-316.
- Provan, J.; Lawrence, P.; Young, G.; Wright, F.; Bird, R.; Paglia, G.; Cattonaro, F.; Morgante, M.; Powell, W. (1999) Analysis of the genusZea (Poaceae) using polymorphic chloroplast simple sequence repeats., Plant Systematics and Evolution, 218, 245-256.
- Hopkins, R.J.; Wright, F.; Birch, A.N.E.; McKinlay, R.G. (1999) The decision to reject an oviposition site: sequential analysis of the post-alighting behaviour of Delia floralis., Physiological Entomology, 24, 41-50.
- Fennell, S.R.; Powell, W.; Wright, F.; Ramsay, G.; Waugh, R. (1998) Phylogenetic relationships between Vicia faba (Fabaceae) and related species inferred from chloroplast trnL sequences., Plant Systematics and Evolution, 212, 247-259.
Technical / contract reports
- Hollingsworth, P.M.; O’Brien, D.; Ennos, R.A.; Ahrends, A.; Ballingall, K.T.; Brooker, R.W.; Burke, T.; Cavers, S.; Dawson, I.K.; Elston, D.A.; Kerr, J.; Marshall, D.F.; Neaves, L.; Pakeman, R.J.; Trivedi, C.; Wall, E.; Wright, F.; Yahr, R.; Bean, C.; Blake, D.; Campbell, R.; Comont, R.; Finger, A.; Fraser, K.; Genney, D.; Hall, J.; Hannah, A.; Jehle, R.; Jones, S.; Kohn, D.; Llewellyn, M.; Lurz, P.; Macdonald, I.; McIntosh, J.; Mitchell, R.; O’Dell, J.; Page, S.; Pemberton, J.; Pérez-Espona, S.; Piertney, S.; Sime, I.; Thompson, D.; Ogden, R. (2020) Scotland’s biodiversity progress to 2020 Aichi targets – Aichi target 13 – Genetic diversity maintained – Supplementary Report 2020., Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness, 81pp.
- Hollingsworth, P.M.; O’Brien, D.; Ennos, R.A.; Yahr, R.; Neaves, L.; Ahrends, A; Ballingall, K.T.; Brooker, R.W.; Burke, T.; Cavers, S.; Dawson, I.K.; Elston, D.A.; Kerr, J.; Marshall, D.F.; Pakeman, R.J.; Trivedi, C.; Wall, E.; Wright, F.; Ogden R. (2020) Scotland’s biodiversity progress to 2020 Aichi targets. Conserving genetic diversity – Development of a national approach for addressing Aichi biodiversity target 13 that includes wild species., Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness, 33pp.
- Wright, F. (2011) Phylogenetic trees and molecular evolution., Annual Report of the Scottish Crop Research Institute for 2010, p54.
Conference papers
- Opik, M.; Moora, M.; Saks, U.; Wheatley, R.E.; Wright, F.; Daniell, T.J.; Zobel, M. (2008) Boreo-nemoral herb-rich forest – a new biodiversity hotspot for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi., Joint Meeting: European Ecological Federation and the Ecological Societies of Germany, Austria and Switzerland EURECO-GFOE 2008, Leipzig, Germany, 15-19 September 2008.
- Ghasemi, S.; Wright, F.; Torrance, L.; Izadpanah, K. (2005) Detection and classification of potyviruses causing mosaic disease of sugarcane in Iran using molecular approaches., Second Asian Conference on Plant Pathology, Singapore, 25-28 June 2005.
- Milne, I.; Wright, F.; Rowe, G.; Marshall, D.F.; Husmeier, D. (2004) TOPALi – Software for detecting recombinants in DNA multiple alignments., Plant and Animal Genome Conference (PAG) XII Proceedings, San Diego, California, 10-12 January 2004.
- Lazarova, S.S.; Brown, D.J.F.; Malloch, G.; Oliveira, C.M.G.; Vandekerkhove, T.M.; Fenton, B.; Wright, F.; Lamberti, F.; Barsi, L.; Neilson, R. (2004) Phylogenetic relationships of the endosymbiont bacteria of Xiphinema americanum-Group nematodes., European Society of Nematologists Meeting, Rome, 14-18 June 2004.
- Oliveira, C.M.G.; Hobschen, J.; Brown, D.J.F.; Monteiro, A.R.; Ferraz, L.C.C.B.; Wright, F.; Neilson, R. (2003) Taxonomic relationships of selected Xiphinema and Xiphidorus nematode species from Brazil., 16th Symposium of the Nematological Society of Southern Africa, South Africa, 30 June – 4 July 2003.
- Oliveira, C.M.G.; Hubschen, J.; Brown, D.J.F.; Monteiro, A.R.; Ferraz, C.C.B.; Wright, F.; Neilson, R. (2003) Taxonomic relationships of selected Xiphinema and Xiphidorus nematode species from Brazil based on morphometrics and 18S rDNA gene sequences., Proceedings of the 55th International Symposium on Crop Protection, Ghent, Belgium, 6 May 2003.
- Husmeier, D.; Wright, F. (2000) Detection of recombination in phylogenetic data sets with hidden Markov models., Mathematical and Statistical Aspects of Molecular Biology, Newton Institute, Cambridge, 4-5 April 2000.
- Husmeier, D.; Wright, F. (2000) Detecting recombination with hidden Markov models., International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), La Jolla, California, 20-23 August 2000.
- Husmeier, D.; Wright, F. (2000) Detecting sporadic recombination in DNA alignments with hidden Markov models., Proceedings of the 15th German Conference on Bioinformatics, Heidelberg, Germany, 5-7 October 2000, pp19-26.
Conference posters / abstracts
- Lazarova, S.S; Brown, D.J.F.; Oliveira, C.M.G.; Fenton, B.; MacKenzie, K.; Wright, F.; Malloch, G.; Neilson, R. (2016) Diversity of endosymbiont bacteria associated with Xiphinema americanum-group parasitic nematodes., Linking Belowground Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in European Forests, 4th BioLink COST Action Meeting, Sofia, Bulgaria, 12-14 April 2016. Poster.
- Milne, I.; Lindner, D.; Wright, F. (2007) TOPAi v2: Extended multiple sequence alignment analysis software using web services and cluster computing., ISMB 2007, Vienna, 21-25 July 2007 (Poster).
- Milne, I.; Wright, F. (2004) A simple algorithm to automatically detect recombinants in DNA/RNA sequence alignments., ISMB/ECCB 2004. Glasgow, 31 July – 4 August 2004. (Poster).