The project studies the effects of multifactor climate change to plants. Effects are studied at different levels of the organism from genome over transcriptome to physiology, phenotype and lastly species interactions. Selected crop and model species are analysed.
Interactions between plants and fungal leaf diseases are also studied in different climate scenarios.

Purpose

Results from the project will increase our basic understanding of plant-responses to concomitant climate changes in their environment – e.g. the relative role of plant acclimatization versus micro-evolutionary changes. We also investigate how the changed climate will affect plant-pathogen interactions. Results will be of direct and indirect relevance to plant breeding, agricultural practice, conservation, and add to the models predicting environmental change.

Description

Plants respond to changed environmental conditions by acclimatization of the individual plant through altered gene expression, physiology, morphology, etc; this can be studied in single-generation experiments. Over generations, a population can also increase its tolerance by “micro-evolutionary“ adaptation: if more tolerant individuals produce more offspring that inherit tolerance, tolerance of the population will improve. This can only be tested by long term selection over many plant generations. Both single- and multigenerational experiments are included in the project. Using fast cycling model plants many plant generations can be studied per year.
Plant-pathogen interactions are studied over single generations in different climate change scenarios. Different cereal cultivars are exposed to a number of fungal leaf diseases like mildew, rust, leaf blotch, scald and Ramularia.
Students projects are offered within:

• Molecular genetics: e.g. gene expression, genetic variation and micro-evolutionary changes of the genome. Methods to be applied are e.g. qPCR and AFLP analysis. 
• Plant physiology and crop production parameters: Measured factors are stomata conductance, leaf net-photosynthesis and transpiration. Seed number, and quality, seed weight and vegetative dry biomass are production parameters analyzed. 
• Plant-pathogen interactions: Measured factors are changes in infection patterns, cultivar specific responses, changed expression patterns (qPCR and microarray analysis).

Qualifications

Biology student interested in laboratory work and aspects of acclimatization and evolution, plant physiology or plant-pathogen interactions

Project form

Thesis Final year project Bachelor project

Subjects

Biology

Duration