Areas of expertise
- Food Quality
- Soil
Background
Professor Thompson's first degree was in Microbiology and Genetics at University College London. His career as a plant scientist began when he moved to Durham University to join a group studying the molecular biology of seed storage proteins where he was awarded a PhD in 1990. An interest in post transcriptional regulation and RNA metabolism led to a postdoctoral position at University of Texas at Austin, working on catalytic RNAs from the algae Chlamydomonas. Prof Thompson then returned to England to provide a molecular biological dimension to a plant water relations program at Horticulture Research International (HRI), a network of government-funded research institutes serving the horticulture industry. Ownership of HRI, Wellesbourne was later transferred to University of Warwick where he led the Water Use Research Group as Associate Professor in Warwick Life Sciences until 2012 when he joined Cranfield University.
Current activities
Prof Thompson leads the Crop Water Use Group, working on multidisciplinary research to improve crop production when water is limiting. He has a current interest in the use of rootstocks to improve vigour and stress resistance in vegetable crops such as tomato and pepper and is currently working on the molecular genetics of root traits in tomato that may be useful to create new rootstock cultivars. His rootstock research was funded by the EU project Rootopower, and is currently supported by BBSRC and Syngenta in the RootLINK project. He is also developing genetic and genomic resources for studying drought resistance in tomatoes using the wild relatives of tomato Solanum sitiens and Solanum chilense in a project funded by BBSRC and the Indian Department of Biotechnology. He supervises PhD student projects related to aspects of plant development such as fruit abscission and truss branching in tomato. All these projects involve molecular genetic analysis using next generation sequencing, high-throughput genotyping and bioinformatic analysis in collaboration with the bioinformatics group at Cranfield.
Clients
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Müller R, Okokhere‐Edeghoghon B, Janowicz NJ, Bond AD, Kociok‐Kohn G, .... (2025). Transparent, sprayable plastic films for luminescent down‐shifted‐assisted plant growth. Advanced Materials Technologies, 10(6)
- Kevei Z, Larriba E, Romero‑Bosquet MD, Nicolás‑Albujer M, Kurowski TJ, .... (2024). Genes involved in auxin biosynthesis, transport and signalling underlie the extreme adventitious root phenotype of the tomato aer mutant. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 137(4)
- Molitor C, Kurowski TJ, Fidalgo de Almeida PM, Kevei Z, Spindlow DJ, .... (2024). A chromosome-level genome assembly of Solanum chilense, a tomato wild relative associated with resistance to salinity and drought. Frontiers in Plant Science, 15
- Haverroth EJ, Oliveira LA, Andrade MT, Taggart M, McAdam SAM, .... (2023). Abscisic acid acts essentially on stomata, not on xylem, to improve drought resistance in tomato. Plant, Cell & Environment, 46(11)
- Vicente MH, MacLeod K, Zhu F, Rafael DD, Figueira A, .... (2023). The ORGAN SIZE (ORG) locus modulates both vegetative and reproductive gigantism in domesticated tomato. Annals of Botany, 132(7)
- Kevei Z, Silva Ferreira D, Perez Casenave CM, Kurowski TJ, Mohareb F, .... (2022). Missense mutation of a class B heat shock factor is responsible for the tomato bushy root-2 phenotype. Molecular Horticulture, 2(1)
- Zubelzu S, Panigrahi N, Thompson AJ & Knox JW. (2022). Modelling water fluxes to improve banana irrigation scheduling and management in Magdalena, Colombia. Irrigation Science, 41(1)
- Molitor C, Kurowski TJ & Fidalgo de Almeida PM. (2021). De novo genome assembly of Solanum sitiens reveals structural variation associated with drought and salinity tolerance. Bioinformatics, 37(14)
- Gavassi MA, Silva GS, da Silva CDMS, Thompson AJ, MacLeod K, .... (2021). NCED expression is related to increased ABA biosynthesis and stomatal closure under aluminum stress. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 185(May)
- Martínez-Andújar C, Martínez-Pérez A, Albacete A, Martínez-Melgarejo PA, Dodd IC, .... (2021). Overproduction of ABA in rootstocks alleviates salinity stress in tomato shoots. Plant, Cell & Environment, 44(9)
- Collings ER, Alamar MC, Bogaerts Márquez M, Kourmpetli S, Kevei Z, .... (2021). Improving the tea withering process using ethylene or UV-C. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 69(45)
- Li S, Wang X, Liu X, Thompson AJ & Liu F. (2021). Elevated CO2 and high endogenous ABA level alleviate PEG-induced short-term osmotic stress in tomato plants. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 194(February)
- Tosetti R, Waters A, Chope GA, Cools K, Alamar MC, .... (2020). New insights into the effects of ethylene on ABA catabolism, sweetening and dormancy in stored potato tubers. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 173
- Alamar MC, Anastasiadi M, Lopez-Cobollo RM, Bennett MH, Thompson AJ, .... (2020). Transcriptome and phytohormone changes associated with ethylene-induced onion bulb dormancy. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 168
- Panigrahi N, Thompson AJ, Zubelzu S & Knox JW. (2020). Identifying opportunities to improve management of water stress in banana production. Scientia Horticulturae, 276
- Robledo JM, Medeiros D, Vicente MH, Azevedo AA, Thompson AJ, .... (2019). Control of water-use efficiency by florigen. Plant, Cell & Environment, 43(1)
- Bahmani R, Kim D, Modareszadeh M, Thompson AJ, Park JH, .... (2019). The mechanism of root growth inhibition by the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA). Environmental Pollution, 257
- Lamarque LJ, Delzon S, Toups H, Gravel A, Corso D, .... (2019). Over-accumulation of abscisic acid in transgenic tomato plants increases the risk of hydraulic failure. Plant, Cell & Environment, 43(3)
- Martínez-Andújar C, Martínez-Pérez A, Ferrández-Ayela A, Albacete A, Martínez-Melgarejo PA, .... (2019). Impact of overexpression of 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase on growth and gene expression under salinity stress. Plant Science, 295
- González-Arcos M, de Noronha Fonseca ME, Basílio Zandonadi D, Peres LEP, Arruabarrena A, .... (2019). A loss-of-function allele of a TAC1-like gene (SlTAC1) located on tomato chromosome 10 is a candidate for the Erectoid leaf (Erl) mutation. Euphytica, 215(5)
- Papadimitriou L, Hallett S, Sakrabani R, Borg M, Thompson A, .... (2019). Developing a water strategy for sustainable irrigated agriculture in Mediterranean island communities – Insights from Malta. Outlook on Agriculture, 48(2)
- D’Agostino D, Borg M, Hallett SH, Sakrabani R, Thompson A, .... (2019). Multi-stakeholder analysis to improve agricultural water management policy and practice in Malta. Agricultural Water Management, 229
- Silva Ferreira D, Kevei Z, Kurowski TJ, de Noronha Fonseca ME, Mohareb FR, .... (2018). BIFURCATE FLOWER TRUSS: a novel locus controlling inflorescence branching in tomato contains a defective MAP kinase gene. Journal of Experimental Botany, 69(10)
- Ohanenye IC, Alamar MC, Thompson AJ & Terry LA. (2018). Fructans redistribution prior to sprouting in stored onion bulbs is a potential marker for dormancy break. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 149
- Morris WL, Alamar MC, Lopez-Cobollo RM, Castillo Cañete J, Bennett M, .... (2018). A member of the TERMINAL FLOWER1/CENTRORADIALIS gene family controls sprout growth in potato tubers. Journal of Experimental Botany, 70(3)
- Awan SZ, Chandler JO, Harrison PJ, Sergeant MJ, Bugg TD, .... (2017). Promotion of germination using hydroxamic acid inhibitors of 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8
- Hallett S, Sakrabani R, Thompson A, Deeks LK & Knox JW. (2017). Improving soil and water management for agriculture: insights and innovation from Malta. MCAST Journal of Applied Research & Practice, 1(1)
- Thompson AJ & Kevei Z. (2016). Identification of novel stress-responsive biomarkers from gene expression datasets in tomato roots. Functional Plant Biology, 43(8)
- Badescu G, Marsh A, Smith TR, Thompson AJ & Napier RM. (2016). Kinetic characterisation of a single chain antibody against the hormone abscisic acid: comparison with its parental monoclonal. PLOS ONE, 11(3)
- Kevei Z, King RC, Mohareb FR, Sergeant MJ, Awan SZ, .... (2015). Resequencing at ≥ 40-fold depth of the parental genomes of a Solanum lycopersicum × S. pimpinellifolium recombinant inbred line population and characterisation of frame-shift InDels that are highly likely to perturb protein function. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, 5(5)
- Zhang K, Bosch-Serra AD, Boixadera J & Thompson AJ. (2015). Investigation of Water Dynamics and the Effect of Evapotranspiration on Grain Yield of Rainfed Wheat and Barley under a Mediterranean Environment: A Modelling Approach. PLOS ONE, 10(6)
- Albacete A, Martinez-Andujar C, Martinez-Perez A, Thompson AJ, Dodd IC, .... (2015). Unravelling rootstockxscion interactions to improve food security. Journal of Experimental Botany, 66(8)
- Harrison PJ, Newgas SA, Decombes F, Shepherd SA, Thompson AJ, .... (2015). Biochemical characterization and selective inhibition of β-carotene cis-trans isomerase D27 and carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase CCD8 on the strigolactone biosynthetic pathway. The FEBS Journal, 282(20)
- Raza S-E-A, Smith HK, Clarkson GJJ, Taylor G, Thompson AJ, .... (2014). Automatic Detection of Regions in Spinach Canopies Responding to Soil Moisture Deficit Using Combined Visible and Thermal Imagery. PLoS ONE, 9(6)
- Van Norman JM, Zhang J, Cazzonelli CI, Pogson BJ, Harrison PJ, .... (2014). Periodic root branching in Arabidopsis requires synthesis of an uncharacterized carotenoid derivative. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(13)
- Schwarz D, Thompson AJ & Kläring H-P. (2014). Guidelines to use tomato in experiments with a controlled environment. Frontiers in Plant Science, 5(NOV)
- Sergeant MJ, Harrison PJ, Jenkins R, Moran GR, Bugg TDH, .... (2013). Phytotoxic effects of selected N-benzyl-benzoylhydroxamic acid metallo-oxygenase inhibitors: investigation into mechanism of action. New Journal of Chemistry, 37(11)
- Chope GA, Cools K, Hammond JP, Thompson AJ & Terry LA. (2012). Physiological, biochemical and transcriptional analysis of onion bulbs during storage. Annals of Botany, 109(4)
- Cools K, Chope GA, Hammond JP, Thompson AJ & Terry LA. (2011). Ethylene and 1-Methylcyclopropene Differentially Regulate Gene Expression during Onion Sprout Suppression . Plant Physiology, 156(3)
- Harrison E, Burbidge A, Okyere JP, Thompson AJ & Taylor IB. (2011). Identification of the tomato ABA-deficient mutant sitiens as a member of the ABA-aldehyde oxidase gene family using genetic and genomic analysis. Plant Growth Regulation, 64(3)
- Zhang K, Hilton HW, Greenwood DJ & Thompson AJ. (2011). A rigorous approach of determining FAO56 dual crop coefficient using soil sensor measurements and inverse modeling techniques. Agricultural Water Management, 98(6)
- López‐Ráez JA, Kohlen W, Charnikhova T, Mulder P, Undas AK, .... (2010). Does abscisic acid affect strigolactone biosynthesis?. New Phytologist, 187(2)
- GREENWOOD DJ, ZHANG K, HILTON HW & THOMPSON AJ. (2010). Opportunities for improving irrigation efficiency with quantitative models, soil water sensors and wireless technology. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 148(1)
- Sergeant MJ, Li J-J, Fox C, Brookbank N, Rea D, .... (2009). Selective Inhibition of Carotenoid Cleavage Dioxygenases. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 284(8)
- Jones MO, Manning K, Andrews J, Wright C, Taylor IB, .... (2008). The promoter from SlREO, a highly-expressed, root-specific Solanum lycopersicum gene, directs expression to cortex of mature roots. Functional Plant Biology, 35(12)
- TUNG SA, SMEETON R, WHITE CA, BLACK CR, TAYLOR IB, .... (2008). Over‐expression of LeNCED1 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) with the rbcS3C promoter allows recovery of lines that accumulate very high levels of abscisic acid and exhibit severe phenotypes. Plant, Cell & Environment, 31(7)
- Smith TR, Clark AJ, Napier R, Taylor PC, Thompson AJ, .... (2007). Function and Stability of Abscisic Acid Acyl Hydrazone Conjugates by LC-MS2 of ex Vivo Samples. Bioconjugate Chemistry, 18(4)
- Dilly SJ, Bell MJ, Clark AJ, Marsh A, Napier RM, .... (2007). A photoimmobilisation strategy that maximises exploration of chemical space in small molecule affinity selection and target discovery. Chemical Communications, 0(27)
- THOMPSON AJ, MULHOLLAND BJ, JACKSON AC, MCKEE JMT, HILTON HW, .... (2007). Regulation and manipulation of ABA biosynthesis in roots. Plant, Cell & Environment, 30(1)
- Thompson AJ, Andrews J, Mulholland BJ, McKee JMT, Hilton HW, .... (2007). Overproduction of Abscisic Acid in Tomato Increases Transpiration Efficiency and Root Hydraulic Conductivity and Influences Leaf Expansion. Plant Physiology, 143(4)
- Manning K, Tör M, Poole M, Hong Y, Thompson AJ, .... (2006). A naturally occurring epigenetic mutation in a gene encoding an SBP-box transcription factor inhibits tomato fruit ripening. Nature Genetics, 38(8)
- Barry CS, McQuinn RP, Thompson AJ, Seymour GB, Grierson D, .... (2005). Ethylene Insensitivity Conferred by theGreen-ripeandNever-ripe 2Ripening Mutants of Tomato. Plant Physiology, 138(1)
- Taylor IB, Sonneveld T, Bugg TDH & Thompson AJ. (2005). Regulation and Manipulation of the Biosynthesis of Abscisic Acid, Including the Supply of Xanthophyll Precursors. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, 24(4)
- THOMPSON AJ, THORNE ET, BURBIDGE A, JACKSON AC, SHARP RE, .... (2004). Complementation of notabilis, an abscisic acid‐deficient mutant of tomato: importance of sequence context and utility of partial complementation. Plant, Cell & Environment, 27(4)
- Mulholland BJ, Taylor IB, Jackson AC & Thompson AJ. (2003). Can ABA mediate responses of salinity stressed tomato. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 50(1)
- Tör M, Manning K, King GJ, Thompson AJ, Jones GH, .... (2002). Genetic analysis and FISH mapping of the Colourless non-ripening locus of tomato. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 104(2)
- Orfila C, Seymour GB, Willats WGT, Huxham IM, Jarvis MC, .... (2001). Altered Middle Lamella Homogalacturonan and Disrupted Deposition of (1→5)-α-
l -Arabinan in the Pericarp ofCnr, a Ripening Mutant of Tomato. Plant Physiology, 126(1) - Taylor IB, Burbidge A & Thompson AJ. (2000). Control of abscisic acid synthesis. Journal of Experimental Botany, 51(350)
- Thompson AJ, Jackson AC, Symonds RC, Mulholland BJ, Dadswell AR, .... (2000). Ectopic expression of a tomato 9‐cis‐epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase gene causes over‐production of abscisic acid. The Plant Journal, 23(3)
- Thompson AJ, Jackson AC, Parker RA, Morpeth DR, Burbidge A, .... (2000). Abscisic acid biosynthesis in tomato: Regulation of zeaxanthin epoxidase and 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase mRNAs by light/dark cycles, water stress and abscisic acid. Plant Molecular Biology, 42(6)
- Burbidge A, Grieve TM, Jackson A, Thompson A, McCarty DR, .... (1999). Characterization of the ABA‐deficient tomato mutantnotabilisand its relationship with maizeVp14. The Plant Journal, 17(4)
- Thompson AJ, Tor M, Barry CS, Vrebalov J, Orfila C, .... (1999). Molecular and Genetic Characterization of a Novel Pleiotropic Tomato-Ripening Mutant1. Plant Physiology, 120(2)
- Corlett JE, Wilkinson S & Thompson AJ. (1998). Diurnal control of the drought-inducible putative histone H1 gene in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. L.). Journal of Experimental Botany, 49(323)
- Corlett J. (1998). Diurnal control of the drought-inducible putative histone H1 gene in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. L.). Journal of Experimental Botany, 49(323)
- Masgrau C, Altabella T, Farrás R, Flores D, Thompson AJ, .... (1997). Inducible overexpression of oat arginine decarboxylase in transgenic tobacco plants. The Plant Journal, 11(3)
- Burbidge A, Grieve T, Jackson A, Thompson A & Taylor I. (1997). Structure and expression of a cDNA encoding a putative neoxanthin cleavage enzyme (NCE), isolated from a wilt-related tomato (Lycopersicon esculentumMill.) library. Journal of Experimental Botany, 48(12)
- Thompson AJ & Myatt SC. (1997). Tetracycline-dependent activation of an upstream promoter reveals transcriptional interference between tandem genes within T-DNA in tomato. Plant Molecular Biology, 34(4)
- Burbidge A, Grieve T, Terry C, Corlett J, Thompson A, .... (1997). Structure and expression of a cDNA encoding zeaxanthin epoxidase, isolated from a wilt-related tomato (Lycopersicon esculentumMill.) library. Journal of Experimental Botany, 48(9)
- Burbidge A. (1997). Gene note. Structure and expression of a cDNA encoding zeaxanthin epoxidase, isolated from a wilt-related tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) library. Journal of Experimental Botany, 48(314)
- Durrenberger F. (1996). Double strand break-induced recombination in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplasts. Nucleic Acids Research, 24(17)
- CORLETT JE, MYATT SC & THOMPSON AJ. (1996). Toxicity symptoms caused by high expression of Tet represser in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. L.) are alleviated by tetracycline. Plant, Cell & Environment, 19(4)
- THOMPSON AJ & CORLETT JE. (1995). mRNA levels of four tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. L.) genes related to fluctuating plant and soil water status. Plant, Cell & Environment, 18(7)
- Gatehouse J & Thompson AJ. (1995). Nuclear "Run-On" Transcription Assays. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 49
- Thompson AJ & Herrin DL. (1994). A Chloroplast Group I Intron Undergoes the First Step of Reverse Splicing into Host Cytoplasmic 5·8 S rRNA. Journal of Molecular Biology, 236(2)
- Thompson AJ, Yuan X, Kudlicki W & Herrin DL. (1992). Cleavage and recognition pattern of a double-strand-specific endonuclease (I-CreI) encoded by the chloroplast 23S rRNA intron of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Gene, 119(2)
- Herrin DL, Bao Y, Thompson AJ & Chen YF. (1991). Self-splicing of the Chlamydomonas chloroplast psbA introns.. The Plant Cell, 3(10)
- Thompson AJ & Herrin DL. (1991). In vitroself-splicing reactions of the chloroplast group I intron Cr.LSU fromChlamydomonas reinhardtiiand in vivo manipulation via gene-replacement. Nucleic Acids Research, 19(23)
- Thompson AJ, Bown D, Yaish S & Gatehouse JA. (1991). Differential Expression of Seed Storage Protein Genes in the Pea legJ Subfamily; Sequence of Gene legK. Biochemie und Physiologie der Pflanzen, 187(1)
- Herrin DL, Bao Y, Thompson AJ & Chen Y-F. (1991). Self-Splicing of the Chlamydomonas Chloroplast psbA Introns. The Plant Cell, 3(10)
- Thompson AJ, Evans IM, Boulter D, Croy RRD & Gatehouse JA. (1989). Transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of seed storage-protein gene expression in pea (Pisum sativum L.). Planta, 179(3)
- Crop RRD, Evans IM, Yarwood JN, Harris N, Gatehouse JA, .... (1988). Expression of Pea Legumin Sequences in Pea, Nicotiana and Yeast. Biochemie und Physiologie der Pflanzen, 183(2-3)
