PhD Student Vacancy: EastBio – Endophytes for sustainable barley production: harnessing microbes for improved pest, pathogen and environmental stress tolerance

Job title:

PhD Student Vacancy: EastBio – Endophytes for sustainable barley production: harnessing microbes for improved pest, pathogen and environmental stress tolerance

Company

The James Hutton Institute

Job description

Barley is the fourth most important cereal crop globally, cultivated in over 100 countries for food (human and animal) and for alcohol production. Many threats face barley production, including pests, diseases and environmental stressors such as waterlogging and drought. Many of these stresses will worsen in the future under a changing climate, and with the loss of pesticides both to resistance and regulator changes. Maintaining land use and yields for cereal crops, such as barley, is vital for its continued economic value in the UK and overseas.Plants form close symbiotic relationships with a wide range of microbes that support plant growth and survival; those that reside within plant tissues are termed endophytes. For example, within the plant grouping barley belongs to, many related species are found in partnership with fungi from the genus Epichloë. Members of Epichloë have been shown to promote plant growth and aid the plant during biotic and abiotic stresses – some are even successfully exploited commercially for this in pasture and amenity grass products overseas.Little is known about native endophytic fungi of barley relatives and other grasses in the UK and their adaptability to UK-specific stresses. Our aim it is to understand the plant probiotic role endophytes may play in barley by:1. Exploring and isolating endophytes of barley relatives in the UK and relating endophytes to local stresses to form predictions as to their ecological role in improving plant fitness. This will have a particular focus on seed-borne endophytes, which includes members of Epichloë.2. Developing techniques to introduce novel endophytes into commercial barley lines.3. Determining the effect of introduced endophytes on barley growth, including during selected UK-related stresses, both abiotic (soil nutrient deficiencies, water logging, or drought) and biotic (the barley scald pathogen, Rynchosporium commune, the head blight pathogen, Fusarium graminearum, or pests e.g., cereal aphids)4. Exploring how various barley cultivars impact endophyte establishment, and subsequent endophyte-microbiome and plant-microbe interaction outcomes.Endophytic microbes offer a promising supplement or alternative to some synthetic inputs during barley production. By using a biological approach to combat UK related stresses of barley, this research has the potential to develop into low-input methods for maintaining barley yields.The EastBio partnership offers fully-funded competition based studentships. Funding covers Home (UK fees), a stipend at UKRI norm level (£19,327 for 2024/2025) and project costs. Application guidance can be found on the Eastbio website; . Information on UKRI-BBSRC can be found on the UKRI websiteWe will not consider the use of 3rd party recruitment agencies for the sourcing of candidates for this position.The James Hutton Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.The James Hutton Institute is a: Stonewall Diversity Champion; Athena SWAN Bronze Status Holder; Disability Confident Committed Employer and a Living Wage Employer.The James Hutton Institute is Happy to Talk Flexible Working.

Expected salary

£19237 per year

Location

Dundee

Job date

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 07:50:31 GMT

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