21st century truffle production: the application of chemical biology (GANESANU17ICASE)

Truffles are the most expensive mushrooms, costing thousands of dollars per pound. They are the fruiting bodies of fungi of the genus Tuber and the high cost is due to the slow and complex life cycle involved. The fungus grows symbiotically on the roots of a plant host in a process that takes years for maturation.
This project will give you a unique opportunity to carry out cutting edge molecular biology and chemical biology techniques to improve our understanding of the truffle life cycle and identify methods to improve cultivation methods. This will be an interdisciplinary project combining aspects of microbiology, chemical biology and industrial biotechnology and well suited for students interested in pursuing a scientific career upon completion of the PhD. The academic supervisor Prof. Ganesan is well-known for his research in epigenetics and is co-founder of the company Karus Therapeutics. The non-academic partner is Mycorrhizal Systems Ltd, a company that is applying innovative and modern scientific techniques to truffle production. The company was the first to cultivate truffles in the UK and has research sites in 23 countries and its own laboratory on site.

In this project, you will investigate the effect of epigenetic and morphogenetic modulators on truffle cultivation under model laboratory conditions. In addition, you will explore the metabolite profile of the truffle and plant host and potentially isolate novel natural products. The project will be based at the University of East Anglia with placements at Mycorrhizal Systems Ltd. Once experimental protocols have been developed in the pilot phase, you will have the opportunity to carry out field trials on a larger scale.

This Industrial CASE project has been shortlisted for funding by the Norwich Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NRPDTP). Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed as part of the studentship competition.

The Norwich Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NRPDTP) offers postgraduates the opportunity to undertake a 4 year research project whilst enhancing professional development and research skills through a comprehensive training programme. You will join a vibrant community of world-leading researchers. Students with, or expecting to attain, at least a UK upper second class honours degree, or equivalent, are invited to apply.

For further information and to apply, please visit our website: http://biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/the-programme/industrial-case