Prof M Hutchings
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
Streptomyces bacteria are best known for making antibiotics, including more than 50% of those used clinically. However, their natural environment is the soil and the rhizosphere (outside) and endosphere (inside) of plant roots where the plants provide food to beneficial bacteria in exchange for growth-promoting benefits and protection against disease. Some Streptomyces strains are important plant growth promoting bacteria and can protect their host plants against biotic and abiotic stress, e.g. fungal disease, drought and salt stress. In this project you will explore the role of these bacteria in bread wheat, a crop which provides 20% of all the calories consumed by humans worldwide. Specifically, you will investigate how and why these bacteria colonise wheat roots and identify Streptomyces strains that provide benefits to plants with a view to using them as plant probiotic bacteria.
You will split your time between the John Innes Centre (with Prof Matt Hutchings) and the Quadram Institute (with Dr Alison Mather). These institutes are world-leading centres of excellence in plant science, Streptomyces biology and microbiome research and they are both located on the Norwich Research Park. You will receive excellent, interdisciplinary training and use cutting edge techniques to characterise the adaptation of Streptomyces bacteria to the wheat endosphere.
The Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NRPDTP) is open to UK and international candidates for entry October 2021 and offers postgraduates the opportunity to undertake a 4-year PhD research project whilst enhancing professional development and research skills through a comprehensive training programme. You will join a vibrant community of world-leading researchers. All NRPDTP students undertake a three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) during their study. The placement offers exciting and invaluable work experience designed to enhance professional development. Full support and advice will be provided by our Professional Internship team. Students with, or expecting to attain, at least an upper second class honours degree, or equivalent, are invited to apply.
This project has been shortlisted for funding by the NRPDTP programme. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on Thursday 7th January, Friday 8th January and Monday 11th January 2021.
Visit our website for further information on eligibility and how to apply: https://biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/
Our partners value diverse and inclusive work environments that are positive and supportive. Students are selected for admission without regard to gender, marital or civil partnership status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or social background.
Funding Notes
This project is awarded with a 4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NRPDTP) PhD studentship. The studentship includes payment of tuition fees (directly to the University), a stipend for each year of the studentship (2020/21 stipend rate: £15,285), and a Research Training Support Grant for each year of the studentship of £5,000pa.
References
Newitt JT, Prudence SMM, Hutchings MI and Worsley SF (2019). Biocontrol of cereal crop diseases using streptomycetes. Pathogens. 8:78.
Worsley SF, Newitt J, Rassbach J, Batey S, Murrell JC, Wilkinson B and Hutchings MI (2020). Streptomyces endophytes promote host health and enhance growth across plant species. Appl. Env. Microbiol. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01053-20
de Oliveira Martins, L., Page, A.J., Mather, A.E. and Charles, I.G. (2020) Taxonomic resolution of the ribosomal RNA operon in bacteria: Implications for its use with long-read sequencing. NAR Genom. Bioinfo. 2, Iqz-16. doi: 10.1093/nargab/lqz016.
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