Prof Luis Mur

PhD

Research

In my Food Security Research I am interested in developing our understanding of the genetic & biochemical events associated with plant responses to stress & in identifying sources of tolerance/resistance. This work is based on the use of model plant species, Arabidopsis & Brachypodium distachyon & also crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum), oats (Avena sativa) tomato (Solanum esculentum) & barley (Hordeum vulgare).

My interests in clinical health focus on the respiratory tract & identifying drug leads from natural products. Lung cancer (LC) is the most prevalent cancer in the world with 1.3 million deaths recorded each year. Only 15% of patients live for five or more years after initial diagnosis, primarily due to late detection. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by an increase in mucus production due to hyperplasia of goblet cells, & hypertrophy of mucus glands COPD is a leading cause of death, arising from acute exacerbations (sudden worsening of symptoms) which may be triggered by infection or environmental pollutants. My research in this area is focusing on the detection of metabolite biomarkers for LC & COPD & investigating possible links with the lung microbiome.

My research in bioactive natural products focus on identifying anti-microbial metabolites against such human pathogens as MSRA & Pseudomonas aeruginosa from invasive plant species & extremophile microbial strains.

I employ cutting edge genomic & post-genomic approaches but will use classical physiological, genetic, biochemical or microbiological approaches- as appropriate. I have numerous national & international collaborations which are supported by funding from the BBSRC, the EU, NSF (USA), DEFRA, Royal Society, Welsh Assembly, & AU Research Fund.

Research Groups

  • One Health

Publications

Wolffs, K, Li, R, Mansfield, B, Pass, DA, Bruce, RT, Huang, P, de Araújo, RP, Haddadi, BS, Mur, LAJ, Dally, J, Moseley, R, Ecker, R, Karmouty-Quintana, H, Lewis, KE, Simpson, AJ, Ward, JPT, Corrigan, CJ, Jurkowska, RZ, Hope-Gill, BD, Riccardi, D & Yarova, PL 2025, 'Calcium-Sensing Receptor as a Novel Target for the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis', Biomolecules, vol. 15, no. 4, 509. 10.3390/biom15040509
Pérez-Pérez, R, Pinski, A, Zaranek, M, Beckmann, M, Mur, LAJ, Nowak, K, Rojek-Jelonek, M, Kostecka-Gugała, A, Petryszak, P, Grzebelus, E & Betekhtin, A 2025, 'Effect of potent inhibitors of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and PVP on in vitro morphogenesis of Fagopyrum tataricum', BMC Plant Biology, vol. 25, no. 1, 469. 10.1186/s12870-025-06440-x
Wei, H, Wang, X, Wang, J, Ren, S, Mur, LAJ, Lu, D & Cao, D 2025, 'Flavonoids from sour jujube leaves: Ultrasound-assisted extraction, UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS quantification, and ameliorative effect on DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in mice', Ultrasonics sonochemistry, vol. 114, 107279. 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2025.107279
Mittal, GK, Singh, S, Yadav, DV, Beckmann, M, Mur, L & Yadav, R 2025, 'Genome-wide association study for dissecting lipid and fatty acid variation in a global collection of pearl millet germplasm', Journal of Food Composition and Analysis  , vol. 144, 107679. 10.1016/j.jfca.2025.107679
Feng, H, Li, Y, Dai, G, Yang, Z, Song, J, Lu, B, Gao, Y, Chen, Y, Shi, J, Mur, LAJ, Yu, L, Luo, J & Yang, W 2025, 'Integrative phenomics, metabolomics and genomics analysis provides new insights for deciphering the genetic basis of metabolism in polished rice', Genome Biology, vol. 26, no. 1, 55. 10.1186/s13059-025-03513-w
More publications on the Research Portal