Lauren Hemara

Doctoral Candidate

Kia ora 👋

I’m a doctoral candidate in the University of Auckland’s Joint Graduate School in Plant and Food Science, based at Plant & Food Research.

I’m passionate about understanding microbial evolution and niche adaptation - both in the field and under controlled or experimental settings.

My PhD research focuses on using the kiwifruit pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae to understand how plant pathogens evolve during incursions. I’m examining effector requirements, redundancies, and repertoire refinement across different kiwifruit hosts, using complementary approaches of orchard-based genome biosurveillance and effector knockout strain competition!

Interests

Niche adaptation
Experimental evolution
Comparative genomics
Plant pathogens

Education

MSc in Biological Sciences, 2020
University of Auckland
PGDipSci in Biological Sciences, 2019
University of Auckland
BSc in Biological Sciences, 2018
University of Auckland

Recent Publications

Lauren Hemara, Abhishek Chatterjee, Shin-Mei Yeh, Ronan Chen, Elena Hilario, Liam Le Lievre, Ross Crowhurst, Deborah Bohne, Saadiah Arshed, Haileigh Patterson, Kelvina Barrett-Manako, Susan Thomson, Andrew Allan, Cyril Brendolise, David Chagné, Matthew Templeton, Jay Jayaraman, Jibran Tahir (2024). Identification and characterization of innate immunity in Actinidia melanandra in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae. Plant, Cell & Environment.

PDF DOI URL

Shin-Mei Yeh, Minsoo Yoon, Sidney Scott, Abhishek Chatterjee, Lauren Hemara, Ronan Chen, Tianchi Wang, Kerry Templeton, Erik Rikkerink, Jay Jayaraman, Cyril Brendolise (2024). NbPTR1 confers resistance against Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae in kiwifruit. Plant, Cell & Environment.

PDF DOI URL

Stephen Hoyte, Jay Jayaraman, Lauren Hemara, Magan Schipper, Peter Wood, Sergio Marshall, Matthew Templeton, Linda Peacock, Joel Vanneste (2024). Investigating a New Psa Variant in New Zealand. XI International Symposium on Kiwifruit.

URL

Jay Jayaraman, Minsoo Yoon, Lauren Hemara, Deborah Bohne, Jibran Tahir, Ronan Chen, Cyril Brendolise, Erik Rikkerink, Matthew Templeton (2023). Contrasting effector profiles between bacterial colonisers of kiwifruit reveal redundant roles converging on PTI-suppression and RIN4. New Phytologist.

PDF DOI URL

Lauren Hemara, Jay Jayaraman, Paul Sutherland, Mirco Montefiori, Saadiah Arshed, Abhishek Chatterjee, Ronan Chen, Mark Andersen, Carl Mesarich, Otto Van Der Linden, Minsoo Yoon, Magan Schipper, Joel Vanneste, Cyril Brendolise, Matthew Templeton (2022). Effector loss drives adaptation of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae biovar 3 to Actinidia arguta. PLOS Pathogens.

PDF DOI URL

See all publications

Education

PhD in Biological Sciences

University of Auckland

March 2021 – Present Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland

Examining effector requirements, redundancies, and repertoire refinement in the emergent kiwifruit pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae.
Awarded a University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship.

MSc in Biological Sciences

University of Auckland

March 2019 – May 2020 Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland

Identification of candidate Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae effectors that trigger resistance in Actinidia arguta.
Awarded a Zespri Innovation Scholarship.