Dr Leighton Pritchard
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Personal statement
Please visit our group website: https://sipbs-compbiol.github.io/
Our group specialises in computational biology and bioinformatics, particularly for microbial genomics, but also in humans and plants. We have interests in taxonomy and classification of microbes, and the relationships between genome evolution and the different capabilities of organisms. We aim to understand links between genome and phenotype, such as the ability to produce - or resist - antibiotics, to produce enzymes and other products of biotechological value, the responses of human and plant cells to disease and infection, and the ways in which microbial pathogens interact with and control their hosts.
We study these areas using a range of techniques including phylogenetics and phylogenomics, comparative genomics and pangenomics, and mathematical and structural modelling.
You can follow the group (@SCompBiol), or me personally (@widdowquinn) on Twitter.
Publications
- Oxidative stress tolerance in the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae
- Harper Chloe, Piat Julianna, Sanguankiattichai Nattapong, Pritchard Leighton, Uphoff Stephan, Preston Gail
- 2025 IS-MPMI Congress (2025)
- The prevalence of Phytophthora in British plant nurseries : high-risk hosts and substrates and opportunities to influence practice
- Green Sarah, Cooke David EL, Barwell Louise, Purse Bethan V, Cock Peter, Frederickson-Matika Debra, Randall Eva, Keillor Beatrix, Pritchard Leighton, Thorpe Peter, Pettit Tim, Schlenzig Alexandra, Barbrook Jane
- Plant Pathology (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/ppa.14044
- LINgroups as a robust principled approach to compare and integrate multiple bacterial taxonomies
- Mazloom Reza, Pierce-Ward N Tessa, Sharma Parul, Pritchard Leighton, Brown C Titus, Vinatzer Boris A, Heath Lenwood S
- IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Vol 21, pp. 2304-2314 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/TCBB.2024.3475917
- Biological ammonium transporters : evolution and diversification
- Williamson Gordon, Harris Thomas, Bizior Adriana, Hoskisson Paul Alan, Pritchard Leighton, Javelle Arnaud
- FEBS Journal Vol 291, pp. 3786-3810 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.17059
- Genomic characterization of prophage elements in Clostridium clostridioforme : an understudied component of the intestinal microbiome
- Humphrey Suzanne, Marouli Angeliki, Thümmler Katja, Mullin Margaret, Pritchard Leighton, Wall Daniel M
- Microbiology Vol 170 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001486
- Biological ammonium transporters from the Amt/Mep/Rh superfamily : mechanism, energetics, and technical limitations
- Williamson Gordon, Bizior Adriana, Harris Thomas, Pritchard Leighton, Hoskisson Paul A, Javelle Arnaud
- Bioscience Reports Vol 44 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20211209
Professional Activities
- PhD Committee - Virginia Tech
- Examiner
- 31/1/2025
- Access Microbiology (Journal)
- Peer reviewer
- 22/8/2024
- Family disagreements: what do conflicts between whole-genome, core gene, MLST and 16S classifications tell us about Streptomyces?
- Contributor
- 18/4/2023
- The Royal Statistical Society (External organisation)
- Member
- 20/12/2022
- Association for Computing Machinery (External organisation)
- Member
- 20/12/2022
- Access Microbiology (Journal)
- Peer reviewer
- 12/12/2022
Projects
- BBSRC-NSF/BIO: Collaborative Proposal: genomeRxiv: a microbial whole-genome database and diagnostic marker design resource for classification, identification, and data sharing
- Pritchard, Leighton (Principal Investigator)
- 08-Jan-2021 - 28-Jan-2025
- Targeted Innovation in the UK Seed Potato Industry to Improve Productivity and Quality
- Pritchard, Leighton (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2019 - 31-Jan-2021
Contact
Dr
Leighton
Pritchard
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Email: leighton.pritchard
Tel: 548 4962