About the Project
This BBSRC NEEDL Partnership Project is Based at Durham University
When to water the flowers? As climate change starts to affect our world, drought and warming are already affecting agricultural productivity. Oilseed rape is a major crop, and warmer winters affect the development of its flowers and its productivity. Drought can also reduce the number of flowers the plant produces as it tries to conserve water, reducing yields. We have already used state-of-the-art timelapse photography and computer vision techniques to explore the development of the flowering shoot with warmer and cooler ‘winter’ treatments, looking at a wide range of oilseed rape genotypes in a glasshouse. In this project, we want to analyse the water use of these plants over time, using a range of existing data to identify and characterise the genes controlling these traits, using bioinformatic techniques like Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and Associative Transcriptomics (AT). The project will then follow up how these genes are acting in the laboratory, using both model plants (Arabidopsis) and mutants in oilseed rape, detailing the molecular action of these genes and their effect on water use. However, the behaviour of plants in a glasshouse and outside in the field can vary, so the student will also be exploiting multispectral phenotyping methods at the high-tech Newcastle University Farms to monitor plant growth and water use in the field. These data will be combined into statistical models that link genotype, water use, growth and yield. The project aims both to identify genetic variation that can be used by plant breeders to develop climate-smart crops, but also to develop mathematical models for farmers – to predict just when to water the flowers.
The PhD will provide training in bioinformatic techniques such as GWAS and associative transcriptomics; crop and model plant genetics, development and response to abiotic stress; state-of-the-art in-lab and in-field phenomics; and statistical modelling.
Funding Notes
NEEDL Studentships are fully funded by the UKRI BBSRC for 4yrs. Funding for home (UK) students will cover a tax-free stipend at the UKRI rate (indicative amount in year 1 in 2026-27, (£21,383), research costs and tuition fees. NEEDL studentships are available to Home (UK) candidates. In addition, a small number of awards will be available to support outstanding International applicants. The proportion of international students appointed will be limited up to 30% of the total.
Further information regarding the NEEDL PhD Programme is here View Website
Studentships commence: 1st October 2026
References
• Williams K1, Hepworth J12, Nichols B, Corke F, Woolfenden H, Calderwood A, Paajanen P, Steuernagel B, Østergaard L, Morris RJ, Doonan JH, Wells R2. Integrated Phenomics and Genomics reveals genetic loci associated with inflorescence growth in Brassica napus. Submission aimed to The Plant Journal. BioRxiv doi: https://doi:10.1101/2023.03.31.535149.
• Hepworth J, Antoniou-Kourounioti RL, Berggren K, Selga C, Tudor EH, Yates B, Cox D, Collier Harris BR, Irwin JA, Howard M, Säll T, Holm S, Dean C. 2020. Natural variation in autumn expression is the major adaptive determinant distinguishing Arabidopsis FLC haplotypes. https://doi: 10.7554/eLife.57671
• Ferguson JN, Meyer RC, Edwards KD, Humphry M, Brendel O, Bechtold U. 2019. Accelerated flowering time reduces lifetime water use without penalizing reproductive performance in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13527
• Ferguson JN, Humphry M, Lawson T, Brendel O, Bechtold U. 2018. Natural variation of life-history traits, water use, and drought responses in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.35
• de Jesus Colwell F, Souter J, Bryan GJ, Compton LJ, Boonham N, Prashar A. 2021. Development and validation of methodology for estimating potato canopy structure for field crop phenotyping and improved breeding. Front. Plant Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.612843
