(PhD) Mobile Genetic Elements as key drivers for sustainable Wheat-Fungus Adaptations in a Changing Climate

About the Project

As the world confronts pressing global challenges like a projected population surge to 9.7 billion by 2050, climate change, and the rise of pest pressures, innovative strategies to enhance crop resilience are essential for food security and environmental stability. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) interactions exemplify plant-fungal symbioses that can improve nutrient use efficiency, soil health, and resilience to environmental stresses. Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) play a crucial role in these adaptations, driving genetic diversity and rapid evolution. Yet, despite their prevalence in genomes, the impact of MGEs on metabolic adaptation in plant-microbe interactions, especially in response to climate change, remains largely unexplored.

Our project aims to uncover how Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) drive metabolic diversity and adaptive traits in wheat-AMF interactions, enhancing resilience to various biotic and abiotic stresses. This investigation builds on key findings by Sahu et al. (2023), Wang et al. (2020), and Sperschneider et al. (2023) on plant-fungus interactions, as well as Al-Shayeb et al. (2022), which identified repeat elements as central to expanding metabolic capacity. Leveraging my extensive expertise in k-mer-based and graph-based methodologies for high-quality genome and pangenome assembly, structural variation discovery, and metabolic pathway analysis, this project naturally extends to the plant and microbial realms (Garg et al. Trends in Microbiology, 2024 (accepted); Garg Genome Biology 2023; Garg et al Nature Biotechnology 2021). Given the rising importance of MGEs in shaping genomes and metabolic pathways in these systems, our focus on MGE-driven metabolic and genetic adaptations aims to provide crucial insights for sustainable agriculture, reduced reliance on synthetic fertilizers, and the development of climate-resilient crops.

Objective 1: Develop a comprehensive genomic toolkit to catalog and analyze the diversity and abundance of Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) and investigate their role in promoting sustainable wheat-AMF symbiosis through genome sequencing and comparative genomics, emphasizing potential pathways for nutrient efficiency and resilience to environmental stresses.

Objective 2: Establish a metabolic and functional framework to understand how MGEs drive the expression of genes related to environmental resilience, exploring how MGE-induced phenotypic changes and novel metabolic pathways contribute to sustainable crop growth in low-input systems.

Objective 3: Uncover how MGEs enable wheat and AMF to acquire adaptive traits or pathways rapidly, enhancing their ability to withstand diverse biotic and abiotic pressures, and supporting sustainable agriculture and ecosystem health in a changing climate.

Impact

This project promotes environmental sustainability by developing wheat varieties that thrive under low-input, high-stress conditions, reducing fertilizer use and enhancing carbon sequestration through symbiosis with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). By studying how Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) facilitate wheat-AMF adaptation to climate stress, the research supports climate-resilient crops, healthier soils, and sustainable farming. It also paves the way for genetically modified crops with innate pest and stress resilience, reducing chemical use and fostering global food security.

Eligibility

Applicants must have obtained or be about to obtain a minimum Upper Second class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK, in Computer science, Computational biology, Biology, Agrifood & sustainable systems or Genomics.

How to Apply

For information on how to apply for this project, please visit the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Doctoral Academy website (https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/research/apply/). Informal enquiries may be made directly to the primary supervisor.

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