Friend or Foe: microbe-plant interactions in agriculture

About the Project

Supervisors: Professor John Hammond (School of Agriculture, University of Reading) Dr Anne D. Jungblut, Dr Silvia Pressel, Prof Matt Clark (Natural History Museum).

This collaborative studentship is potentially funded by the University of Reading as part of a strategic partnership to support innovative collaborative research between the University and the Natural History Museum (NHM).

Subject to open competition to identify the strongest applicant across four eligible projects*, the successful applicant will be jointly supervised by both organisations.

Climate modelling predicts accelerated warming and changes in precipitation over the next century which will likely lead to increased frequency and duration of droughts that may severely impacting food crop productivity (IPCC 2021). While microorganisms can cause devastating plant diseases, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizospheric bacteria are plants’ most widespread symbionts that are forming beneficial partnerships with plants. Some AMF and bacteria also have the ability to enhance crop productivity and resistance to environmental stress such as low water availability. Some of these microbes are considered to be commercially used in agriculture, especially for drought as there are no chemical alternatives. Previous studies have however shown that the efficacy of application beneficial microorganisms, also called bioinoculants, can greatly vary. The aim of the project is to therefore study microbe-plant interactions to better understand the mechanisms underlying the interactions between bioinoculants, native plant microbe and physiology of crop plants.  

The project will study AMF and rhizospheric bacterial bioinoculants in association with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), one of the most important economically food crop, and analyse the responses to drought of the different actors and their interactions, using a combination of DNA and RNA sequencing, and imaging technologies. The project combines in vitro, controlled environment and complex field experiments in a multi-scale approach. There will also be opportunities to carry metadata analysis of published metagenomics data from public databases and explore the microbiome of historic herbarium wheat specimen collections at the NHM. 

The results will give a better understanding on how bacteria, fungi and plant interactions in response to drought stress and whether communities respond with competition- or cooperation-oriented dynamics as well as if the interactions are beneficial for the crop plant and become more resistant to stress. The project will provide new insights into the mechanisms involved in the interaction between fungi, bacteria and plants and their potential role in the mitigation and adaptation of agricultural production to climate change.

The student will be part of a multidisciplinary research team at the Natural History Museum and University of Reading. The project is highly multi-disciplinary, encompassing plant-microbe interactions and plant physiology and agriculture. The project will integrate laboratory-based methodologies including electron and light microscopy, molecular biology, high throughput sequencing, bioinformatics and statistical analyses, and in vitro culture studies. The PhD student will be able to develop their own specific questions to address as part of the studentship. 

The student will be able to specialist training in microscopy, bioinformatics and statistics as well as science communication skills at the University of Reading and the NHM. The NHM postgraduate office offers regular workshops for PhD students designed to support their research and communication skills and career development.

*The other three potentially funded projects are:

Deciphering the Cambrian explosion of echinoderms

Pre-industrial phenological baselines for UK birds

Nature-based interventions for human and planetary health: what works, for who, under what conditions?

Eligibility

Applicants should hold or expect to gain a minimum of a 2:1 Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree with Merit, or equivalent, in ecology, environmental science, physics, biology, or a closely related environmental or physical science.

We will also consider candidates with different academic paths but with experience acquired from a research position, or equivalent, that is relevant to the topic of the PhD project.

Due to the nature of the funding, this studentship is only open to candidates from the UK/Republic of Ireland.

How to apply

To apply, please complete an online application for a PhD in Crop Science. Please upload a CV and Cover Letter with your application.

When applying, if the application system prompts you to submit a research proposal, please paste in the project title and move on to the next step in the application. When the system asks about funding, please enter 'Studentship DRC24-003d' in the relevant box.

Enquiries

For enquiries please contact: Anne D. Jungblut, a.jungblut@nhm.ac.uk

Funding notes

-Starts September 2024
- Duration of funding: 3 years
- Studentship includes tuition fees at the UK/Republic of Ireland level, plus an annual stipend paid at the UKRI minimum level (£18,622 for 2023/24, the level for 2023/24 is awaiting confirmation)