PhD Studentship: Understanding Wheat Take-all Infection Spread, Chemical Resistance and Biocontrol

Primary supervisor - Dr Neil Hall

Take-all is the most important root disease of wheat worldwide and is caused by the fungus Gaeumannomyces tritici. G. tritici belongs to an important group of grass-infecting pathogens including rice and wheat blast fungi (Magnaporthales, Ascomycota), but take-all of wheat is an understudied disease. Little is known about how far the fungus spreads and the intraspecific diversity within fields, landscapes and among continents. Surveillance or diagnostics for G. tritici in the field are almost non-existent. Understanding G. tritici virulence partitioning within and between populations, its spread, virulence mechanism, and its polymorphic resistance to silthiofam fungicide will also be essential to developing improved crop protection regimes.

In this PhD project, you will develop skills (GWAS and population genomics) to analyse genetic diversity in a pangenomics era. You will initially address fundamental questions on the diversity and spread of the fungus across landscapes and continents, as well as through time. This understanding will frame questions on the evolution of fungicide resistance. Finally, you will use expression analysis to test predictions from your previous work on the virulence mechanisms employed by this pathogen, as well as a closely related biocontrol agent.

This PhD studentship will benefit from Delivering Sustainable Wheat investment in re-sequencing of hundreds of G. tritici isolates sampled in the UK and globally over the last seventy years. It will also make use of a UK pangenome resource for G. tritici which has been developed by the Earlham Institute in collaboration Rothamsted Research as part of the Designing Future Wheat programme.

The John Innes Foundation Studentship is open to UK and international candidates with relevant undergraduate degrees for entry in October 2024 and offers the opportunity to undertake a fully-funded 4-year PhD research project.

Candidates will be contacted if they are selected for interview.

John Innes Foundation is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. Students are selected without regard to age, disability, gender identity, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation or social background. We value curiosity, independence of thought, plus an aptitude for research that combines laboratory work and bioinformatics.

Entry requirements

At least UK equivalence Bachelors (Honours) 2:1 or UK equivalence Master's degree. English Language requirement (Faculty of Science equivalent: IELTS 6.5 overall, 6 in each category).

Start date

October 2024

Mode of study

Full-time

Additional Funding Information 

This project is awarded with a 4 year joint funded John Innes Foundation studentship. Tuition fees are covered, and a stipend will be provided for each year of the studentship (2024/5 rate will be £19,237.00). Research training support funding is available.

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