Plant based resistance is the only way forward but this requires knowledge of the effector arsenal by which pathogens will be recognised by the plant. An AHDB project aims to study in detail the unusual lifecycle and disease progression of P. rubi and other closely related fruitcrop-infecting Phytopthoras. The student will develop P rubi transformation protocols generating transgenic strains that will allow the infection process to be closely monitored in real time as well as improving upon infection methods on raspberry to allow better study of the roots during infection in resistant and susceptible cultivars. Using computational analysis sequences of interest from genomic DNA of P. rubi will be identified and assessed to allow us to better understand the current diversity and population structure of P. rubi in the UK's fields/nurseries.
This PhD project aims to exploit expertise, experimental tools and systems at two crop institutes to better understand this pathogen. The student will spend significant time in two institutions and interacting with industry at annual events such as “Fruits for the Future”.
Objectives:
- To transform P. rubi and P. fragariae with fluorescent marker to allow detailed study infection in roots in real time.
- Determination lifecycle determinants and host specificity of P. rubi and P. fragariae
- To develop infection protocols that allow roots of host plants to be easily accessed and assayed
- Use bioinformatics to identify potential effectors encoded and expressed by the P. rubi and P. fragariae genomes