Our agricultural future: Crop genomics, biodiversity and phylogenetics in the context of evolution of genome organization, epigenetics, and phylogenetics

About the Project

At the forefront of agricultural genetics, the fundamental objectives of the project aim to define biodiversity and relationships of agricultural species and their wild relatives, leading to prospects for developing new genotypes and approaches to increase farm sustainability and ensure food security. We work on crop plants and farm animals at DNA, chromosome and genome or genomic levels. We use microscopy, bioinformatics, chromosomal in situ hybridization, long-molecule DNA sequencing, and molecular genetic approaches to gain a comprehensive understanding of fundamental processes related to chromosomes, polyploidy, and DNA sequence evolution. A particular focus is on retroelements and other classes of highly repetitive DNA, which are among the most rapidly evolving genomic components. As well as genome assembly, we are keen to characterize the long-range organization of the genome of plants and animals, including developing models for the evolution and diversification of gene or repetitive DNA sequences, DNA methylation, virus integration and modulation of expression and alternative transcription. Projects will work with cutting-edge areas of genomics: identifying features such as structural variations, haplotype evolution, epigenetic changes, alternative splicing and regulation of expression in polyploids, all with respect to both gene expression and genome stability.

Our work covers a wide range of species, from cereals and forage grasses, through Brassicas, Solanaceae and palms, to cattle, sheep and goats. We are keen to develop projects with relevance to species of interest to you, as a prospective PhD student. We will work with international partners, developing collaborative projects with you and others including funding agencies. You will be expected to have ownership of the project, shaping the research direction, and developing your own ideas during the course of your PhD. Typical projects will almost all involve both laboratory work (DNA, chromosomes, markers, plant evaluation) and computational/bioinformatic work with DNA and RNA sequence.

Training will be focussed around your interests, aptitude, and career development objectives, whether in academia, National Agricultural Research Organizations, industry, or government and policy. In particular, we will build on your current expertise and experience, broadening it to cover the full range of work in a modern genomics laboratory, and covering aspects of laboratory management and intellectual property, maintaining our commitment to open science. The Agricultural Genomics group is very international, with collaborations throughout the world and a global perspective to our work.

Outputs will include publications in high-profile international scientific journals, presentations to international conferences, discussions with end-users including farmers where relevant, and outreach with media opportunities to disseminate the research and its importance to a wider audience. The work will underpin breeding of improved varieties of crops and farm animals, development of strategies to conserve and exploit biodiversity, and aim to identify key traits and the underlying genetics to improve sustainability and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.