Rate My Professor Ryan Whitford

Associate Professor Ryan Whitford serves as the Inaugural ARC Industry Fellow at Murdoch University’s Centre for Crop and Food Innovation, within the School of Agricultural Sciences and Food Futures Institute. His research specializes in cereal genetics, genome editing, meiosis, hybrid breeding, quantitative genetics, recombination, CRISPR technologies, and reproductive biology, primarily focused on wheat to unlock hybrid seed production potential and enhance genetic gain. Whitford leads the Reproductive Biology and Gene Editing Group, delivering translational outcomes that bridge fundamental science with industry applications to reduce hybrid breeding costs and improve crop resilience. He has secured funding from the Australian Research Council and Grains Research and Development Corporation for projects including 'Unlocking the full reproductive potential for hybrid wheat breeding' and 'GRDC Genetic Gain: Utilising B-genome diversity.'

Prior to joining Murdoch University, Whitford spent nearly two decades at the University of Adelaide, contributing to pivotal advances in plant reproductive mechanisms. His influential publications include 'CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of Ms1 enables the production of hybrid wheat' (Okada et al., Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2019), 'Ph2 encodes the mismatch repair protein MSH7-3D that mediates spore killer meiotic drive in wheat' (Serra et al., 2021), 'CLE Peptides Control Medicago truncatula Nodulation' (Mortier et al., 2010), 'Unfertilized ovary pushes wheat flower open for cross-pollination' (Okada et al., 2018), and 'A phase-separated protein hub modulates resistance to necrotrophic fungal pathogens in wheat' (He et al., Cell Host & Microbe, 2024). Recent works encompass 'Transcriptional signatures associated with female sterility in wheat' (Whitford et al., 2026) and genomic resources for wheat reproduction. Whitford co-chairs sessions at international conferences, such as the 2024 International Wheat Congress hybrid wheat workshop, underscoring his impact on cereal breeding globally.