Rate My Professor Margi Butler

Margi Butler, PhD, is a Research Associate in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Otago, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Health Sciences. Holding a PhD from the University of Otago, she joined the university in 1981, initially in the Department of Zoology researching freshwater community structuring until February 1987. Since January 1987, she has worked in Biochemistry, specializing in microbial genetics, molecular microbiology, pathogens, fungi, evolution, sequencing, DNA cloning, and fungal biology.

Her career has focused on the genomics of bacterial and fungal pathogens, with major contributions to understanding Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), the agent of kiwifruit bacterial canker. Key publications include "Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae from Recent Outbreaks of Bacterial Canker on Kiwifruit in Italy are closely related to isolates from New Zealand" (2013), "The completely assembled genome of a strain from the New Zealand Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (PSA) outbreak" (2019), "Genomic analyses of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae isolated in Korea suggest the transfer of the bacterial pathogen via kiwifruit pollen" (2019), "Comparison between complete genomes of an isolate of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae from Japan and a New Zealand isolate of the pandemic lineage" (2018), "The application of the CRISPR–Cas9 system in Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae" (2020), and "Development of ULYSSIS, a Tool for the Biosynthesis of Cyclotides and Cyclic Knottins" (2022). She has also sequenced the chytrid pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (2018) and studied fungal inteins. With 115 publications and 1,524 citations, her research elucidates pathogen evolution and spread across New Zealand, Italy, Japan, Korea, China, and Chile, impacting agriculture. In 2015, she contributed to a Translational Research grant-winning DNA tool project. Post full-time retirement in 2015, she remains active in the department.