The enemy of my enemy… why does Zymoseptoria infect wheat but not wheat's worst weed blackgrass?, BBSRC SWBio DTP PhD studentship 2025 Entry University of Exeter in United Kingdom

About:

The BBSRC -funded SWBio DTP involves a partnership of world-renown universities, research institutes and industry, based mainly across the South West and Wales.

This partnership has established international, national and regional scientific networks, and widely recognised research excellence and facilities.

We aim to provide you with outstanding interdisciplinary bioscience research training, underpinned by transformative technologies.

Programme Overview:

You will be recruited to a broad, interdisciplinary project, supported by a multidisciplinary supervisory team, with many cross-institutional projects available. There are also opportunities to:

• apply your research in an industrial setting ( DTP CASE studentships ).

• undertake research jointly with our core and associate partners ( Standard DTP studentships with an associate partner ).

• work with other national/international researchers.

• undertake fieldwork.

Our structured training programme will ensure you are well equipped as a bioscience researcher, supporting careers into academia, industry and beyond.

First year

We provide a broad awareness of the fundamental research approaches in life sciences and how they could be applied to real-life situations through:

• two rotation projects - both allied with but in different disciplinary areas related to the PhD project.

• three taught units - training in Statistics, Bioinformatics, coding, experimental design, innovation and understanding the impact of your research.

Of note: You will need to successfully complete the first year to progress into your second year of studies. Also, if you are unable to continue your PhD, an MRes exit route is available upon successful completion of the first year.

Second to fourth years

The remaining years will be more like a conventional PhD, where you will focus on your PhD project.

Project Description

This PhD project offers an exciting opportunity to investigate two of the most problematic pests of the UK cereal production: Alopecurus myosuroides (blackgrass) and Zymoseptoria tritici (Zt). Blackgrass is Western Europe’s most problematic and costly weed, while Zt causes Septoria tritici blotch, one of the most devastating diseases of wheat. Given that blackgrass often grows in Zt-infected wheat fields, it is very likely that blackgrass has been exposed to Zt. However, our preliminary laboratory data show that blackgrass does not develop Septoria tritici blotch. This suggests blackgrass has natural resistance mechanism, or mechanisms, against Zt infections.

The aim of this unique plant-pathogen project is to determine why blackgrass can resist Septoria tritici blotch when wheat cannot. Understanding blackgrass’s resistance mechanisms may reveal new strategies to boost wheat’s resistant to Septoria tritici blotch, contributing to a more sustainable and resilient agrifood system.

Project objectives: to confirm blackgrass can resist Septoria tritici blotch and make progress towards understanding the molecular and/or physiological mechanism(s) behind blackgrass's resistance.

Based at Rothamsted Research, in collaboration with the University of Exeter, this PhD project provides you with comprehensive training and access to unique tools and resources including:

1. Advanced Bioimaging Techniques: Use cutting-edge bioimaging facilities to visualise fungal behaviour on blackgrass leaves.

2. Extensive Zymoseptoria tritici Collections: Use UV-mutagenized isolates to identifying strains that overcome blackgrass’s resistance and >50 GFP-tagged field- and lab-isolates ideal for imaging blackgrass-pathogen interactions.

3. Field-Collected and Selected Blackgrass Germplasm: Access an extensive and well-characterised collection to identify natural variations in susceptibility.

4. Rothamsted’s Research Farm: Conduct research on an 800-hectare research farm, collecting blackgrass and wheat samples from Zt-infected fields for real-world relevance.

The multidisciplinary project crosses scales from field to gene with the ultimate goal of identifying key genes or pathways involved in blackgrass’s resistance to Zt. You will gain hands-on experience and learn to generate and quantify empirical data using physiology, cell biology, molecular biology, and genomics techniques. Appropriate training in statistical and bioinformatic skills will be offered. We are looking for someone with an interest plant pathology, weed science, or related fields who is excited to use a wide range of techniques and approaches such as microscopy, plant science, and molecular biology in laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments.

For informal queries, please contact [email protected]