About the Project
This project is offered as part of the CIC-START industrial doctoral training programme.
Supervisors
Lead Supervisor – James Price (James Hutton Institute)
Additional Supervisors – Ashleigh Holmes, Matthew Back (Harper Adams University) and Dawn Arnold (Harper Adams University)
Industrial Supervisor – Don Pendergrast, Agrii
Location
This project will be based at the James Hutton Institute with some time spent at Harper Adams University, Centre for Crop and Environmental Science
The Project
Potato cyst nematodes (Globodera spp., PCN) are among the most damaging pathogens to potato production globally. Blackleg, caused by Pectobacterium and Dickeya spp., causes downgrading of seed potatoes and soft rot storage losses. While both potato cyst nematode and Pectobacterium spp. infections are common in some areas, simultaneous infection of both pathogens in the same host are almost never seen. ...
In summary, the objectives for this PhD project are:
- Identify molecular interactions between common potato pathogens including Potato Cyst Nematodes and Pectobacterium spp..
- Characterise changes to host root exudates upon pathogen infection
- Monitor disease complexes promoting host avoidance following bacterial or nematode invasion
- Assay development for comparing priming response from commercial plant defence response elicitors and test elicitors against a pathogen culture collection (bacteria, nematodes and oomycetes).