Research interests
My current research focuses on the analysis of metagenomics data to try and understand some of the complex microbial interaction in and between organisms in soil/rhizosphere/rhizoplane and plant endophytes. I am also the principal statistician for NIAB East Malling and increasingly for the wider NIAB group.
I began my scientific career at East Malling as a PhD student in 2011 investigating viral disease and subsequently viral interactions in Agaricus bisporus (mushrooms). I joined East Malling as a post-doc immediately on completion of my PhD as a bioinformatician working on Apple Replant disease. I now divide my time equally between bioinformatic research and statistical analysis working on numerous research council and industry funded projects.
Recent publications
Dobbs E, Deakin G, Bennett J, Fleming-Archibald C, Jones I, Grogan H, Burton K. Viral (2021). Interactions and Pathogenesis during Multiple Viral Infections in Agaricus bisporus. Mbio. 12(1), e03470-20
Fountain MT, Deakin G, Farman D, Hall D, Jay C, Shaw B, Walker A (2021). An effective ‘push–pull’control strategy for European tarnished plant bug, Lygus rugulipennis (Heteroptera: Miridae), in strawberry using synthetic semiochemicals, Pest Management Science, 77(6), 2747-55.
Wei F, Feng H, Zhang D, Feng Z, Zhao L, Zhang Y, Deakin G, Peng J, Zhu H, Xu X (2021). Composition of rhizosphere microbial communities associated with healthy and Verticillium wilt diseased cotton plants. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12.
Li, B., Cockerton, H.M., Johnson, A.W., Karlström, A., Stavridou, E., Deakin, G. and Harrison, R.J. (2020). Defining strawberry shape uniformity using 3D imaging and genetic mapping. Horticulture research. 7(1), 1-13.
Deakin G, Tilston EL, Bennett J, Passey T, Harrison N, Fernández-Fernández F, Xu X (2018). Spatial structuring of soil microbial communities in commercial apple orchards. Appl. Soil Ecol. 130, 1-12