Prof John Doonan
BSc Hons (Leeds), PhD (Leeds)

Chair (DLM)

Contact Details

Email: jhd2@aber.ac.uk
ORCID: 0000-0001-6027-1919
Office:223 IBERS Gogerddan
Phone: +44 (0) 1970 823080
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=6KcPHw8AAAAJ
Personal Website: https://www.plant-phenomics.ac.uk/
Research Portal Profile (https://research.aber.ac.uk/en/persons/7e09ae43-a975-42ba-9d72-5f66b400fe83)

John Doonan has more than 30 years experience in genetics and developmental cell biology of plants and fungi. Before joining IBERS as Director of the National Plant Phenomics Centre, he was Group Leader at the John Innes Centre in Norwich. Previous to that he worked at the Robert Wood Johnston Medical School in New Jersey, USA and obtained his PhD from Leeds University.

Lecturer

Tutor

Grader

Plant growth underpins the productivity of both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Our group uses both induced (mutants) and natural variation in experimental model systems and wheat to understand how plants grow and respond to their environment. Current research focuses on cyclin-dependent protein kinase targets (a) in the microtubule system and (b) in the protein translation machinery. We are developing high throughput high content phenotyping technologies at the National Plant Phenomics Centre for crops and model plants grown in either controlled environments and the field. Collaborations with computer scientists, both locally within Aberystwyth and globally, aim to develop and exploit emerging data acquisition technologies and image interrogation methods based on Artificial Intelligence to provide new knowledge on the basis of productivity in natural and agricultural ecosystems.

Our lab welcomes visiting students, post-doc, and academics on short and longer-term training visits. Please contact us by email.

Research is or has been supported by grants from the BBSRC, Leverhulme, Interreg Funds, Horizon2020, NSF, FP7, BEAA, and the Welsh Government.

Aberystwyth Centre for Space and Earth Monitoring
Grains for Health
Phenomics

Accession-Specific Responses to Submergence Stress in Lotus japonicus: Implications for Legume Climate Resilience. / Durkan, Eamon J.; Corke, Fiona M. K.; Doonan, John H.
In: Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, Vol. 212, No. 2, e70166, 31.03.2026.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

APTES: A high-throughput deep learning–based Arabidopsis phenotypic trait estimation system for individual leaves and siliques. / Zhai, Ruifang; Tang, Ning; Liu, Zhi et al.
In: aBIOTECH, 31.10.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

DeepCanola: Phenotyping brassica pods using semi-synthetic data and active learning. / van Vliet, Larissa J.J.; Atkins, Kieran; Kurup, Smita et al.
In: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Vol. 237, 110470, 31.10.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Handling intra-class imbalance in part-segmentation of different wheat cultivars. / Reena, ; Doonan, John H.; Williams, Kevin et al.
In: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Vol. 230, 109826, 31.03.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Mechanical stimulation in plants: Molecular insights, morphological adaptations, and agricultural applications in monocots. / Hansen, Annalene; Gladala-Kostarz, Agnieszka; Hindhaugh, Rebecca et al.
In: BMC Biology, Vol. 23, No. 1, 58, 25.02.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › peer-review

More publications on the Research Portal