Exploring the impact of plant genome size on community structure dependent on soils and underlying geology

Research Environment
The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary is one of the UK’s elite research centres, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). We offer a multi-disciplinary research environment and have approximately 160 PhD students working on projects in the biological, chemical and psychological sciences. Our students have access to a variety of research facilities supported by experienced staff, as well as a range of student support services
Training and Development
Our PhD students become part of Queen Mary’s Doctoral College which provides training and development opportunities, advice on funding, and financial support for research. Our students also have access to a Researcher Development Programme designed to help recognise and develop key skills and attributes needed to effectively manage research, and to prepare and plan for the next stages of their career.
Project Details
The amount of DNA in the nucleus of a cell – known as genome size (GS) - varies c. 2,400-fold in angiosperms representing the largest range for any comparable group of organisms. Much has been written about the consequences of this huge diversity, with studies showing that GS constrains both size and rate-related traits and hence the range of ecological conditions in which a plant can grow (Greilhuber and Leitch 2013).

Our recent studies on experimental grassland plots suggest that interactions between nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) availability in the environment and GS can influence species distributions and plant community composition (Guignard et al. 2016). For example, our analysis of the Park Grass Experimental plots at Rothamsted showed that the biomass-weighted mean GS of species growing on plots receiving both N and P fertilizer were significantly higher than those of plants from plots receiving either no nutrients or just N or P. These findings were supported by using phylogenetically-informed modelling approaches (i.e. MCMCGLMM) which uncovered significant three way interactions among GS, N and P. In part this may be because genomes are expensive to build and maintain in terms of N and P, as DNA and RNA are amongst the most N and P demanding biomolecules of the cell (Guignard et al., 2016).

Nevertheless, the extent to which these findings from grasslands can be applied to other ecosystems is currently unknown. This project aims to address this knowledge gap by extending our studies to the landscape level to see how the dynamic interactions between N, P and GS are influenced by contrasting underlying geologies, soil types, soil ages and farming practices across the diverse landscapes of the UK, each of which may each have their own N and P and GS interaction dynamics.

This is an ecology project jointly superivsed by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Queen Mary University of London that will explore genome size as a new dimension in plant community ecology.

This project tests the hypothesis that availability of N and P across the UK landscape influences the distribution of species based on their GS. It is predicted to generate new insights into how macronutrient availability in the environment interacts with GS to shape the biodiversity and ecology of the UK flora.

The interdisciplinary nature of this PhD project combines the scientific expertise, datasets, and facilities available at Queen Mary, University of London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and will ensure you receive comprehensive training, hence developing your skills in, for example, field work, remote sensing, ecological statistics and nutrient stoichiometry.
Eligibility
Applications are invited from outstanding candidates with or expecting to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree or masters degree in an area relevant to the project.

Applicants from outside of the UK are required to provide evidence of their English language ability. Please see our English language requirements page for details: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/international-students/englishlanguagerequirements/postgraduateresearch/
Application
Interested candidates are invited to contact Professor Leitch at [Email Address Removed]. To find out more about the application process, please visit: http://www.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd-programmes/application-process/