Opening the door to
Warwick HRI
Student Newsletter April 2010
New School of Life Sciences From October 2010 the Departments of Warwick HRI and Biological Sciences will be integrated into a new School of Life Sciences, creating exciting opportunities for multidisciplinary study and research.
Students visit Industry Postgraduate research student Gill Wootton reports on a student group visit to the Jeallott’s Hill International Research Centre of Syngenta, to look at the role of multidisciplinary science in the work of this company. “The Head of Biochemistry gave us an overview of the company and explained how Syngenta provided training to farmers in the safe use of crop protection and how the company produced products that protected crops and in so doing increased yield. He explained how essential this will be to feed the expanding world population in times of changing climate. In the Crop Protection division, we were told that scientists concentrate on discovering and screening chemical compounds which are made up in various formulations to protect crops from pests and diseases. A product, as an end result, is then ultimately created and produced for sale - a process which takes approximately 10-15 years, and costs many millions of dollars.
Contents School of Life Sciences
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Students visit Industry
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Scholarship Opportunities
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MSc Successes
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Luke links with Industry
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Living with Environmental Change
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MSc Study Opportunities
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Meet the team
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We were shown techniques that were used to measure the amount of a compound taken up by a plant, when it was applied in different formulations. We saw how Syngenta’s ‘rain tower’ mimics rainfall, to assess the effect on the uptake of an applied compound. In the glasshouses we were shown examples of innovative screening techniques, which monitored the success of an applied active or inactive fungicide, insecticide or herbicide compound on small plant samples and large major crop plants, in which ideally only the surrounding weeds were killed. Finally, in the Microscopy and Electrophysiology department we were shown the monitoring equipment which identified, how, when and where a compound might affect and interact with a plant or insect at a specific region. Overall the day allowed us to witness the range of scientific disciplines that were being carried out at Syngenta, and proved both enjoyable and very informative”.
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Scholarship Opportunities Full Warwick HRI BBSRC Masters Scholarships are available for UK and EU students studying MSc Sustainable Crop Production: Agronomy for the 21st Century. The deadline for applications for Round 1 is 7 April 2010 and for Round 2 is 30 June 2010. The awards will cover: • The full payment of your academic fees at the Home/EU rate • A monthly maintenance grant of at least £13,290 for full-time award holders In order to be eligible for the scholarship you must meet the Residency and Academic criteria set by the funder. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/funding/bbsrc_mtg_scholarships Warwick HRI Scholarships A number of scholarships worth £2,000 and £3,000 each are available to students applying for any taught MSc degree at Warwick HRI starting in October 2010. Closing date for applications is 30 June 2010. To apply for one of these scholarships you must be in receipt of an offer to study at the University of Warwick. In order to apply for a scholarship, email: richard.napier@warwick.ac.uk indicating your interest, and attach an essay of no more than 1,000 words on the topic indicated on the webpage: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/funding/scholarship
GCRI Trust Scholarship The GCRI Trust Scholarship will pay tuition fees for one Home/EU student for an MSc degree at Warwick HRI starting in October 2010. The MSc can be either a taught MSc course (Enterprise in Horticulture, Food Security, Plant Bioscience for Crop Production or Sustainable Crop Production: Agronomy for the 21st Century) or an MSc by research. Closing date for applications is 30th June 2010. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/funding/gcristudentship
MSc Successes In the January 2009 issue of “Opening the door to Warwick HRI” we featured 3 students: Charlotte Nellist, Sajna Sadanandan and Helen Carter. One year on, they are celebrating their MSc successes. Charlotte’s MSc project was entitled ‘Molecular Diagnostics of a Disease Affecting Bananas in the Tropical Biome at Eden’. Sajna studied ‘Is quantitative resistance to turnip mosaic virus in Brassica Oleracea due to gene silencing?’ whilst Helen, who gained her MSc with Distinction, studied ‘Diversity in wild S. sclerotiorum isolates’.
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Luke links with Industry Luke Bell – KTP Plant Breeding Associate When I first applied for my job as a KTP associate, I had no idea what to expect and no idea what KTP actually stood for. I was a student studying Ecology and Biology at the University of East Anglia at the time, and answered a job advert to be a ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate’ with Warwick HRI and Elsoms Seeds Ltd of Lincolnshire. I was amazed to be given an interview for this job that seemed far beyond my abilities, and even more amazed when I was given the job. It was only then that I started to realise the great opportunity that lay before me. My job in its most basic terms is to transfer the knowledge and research held within an academic institution (Warwick HRI) to a commercial company (Elsoms Seeds). Elsoms is a family owned business that has an excellent reputation for providing high quality seed with excellent customer service. The company breeds, produces and distributes seed for many of the vegetables that are on UK supermarket shelves; these include parsnips, swedes, broccoli, onions, brassicas, carrots and legumes to name but a few. Elsoms has a large market share in parsnip and wants to improve breeding methods with new genetic technology, which is what my project entails: to introduce existing genetic marker technology from crops such as carrot into parsnip. Little genetic research has been done on parsnip, which is why it is called an ‘orphan crop’. By introducing genetic marker technology, the time to produce a new variety can be cut in half, from 10 years to 5. This is why Elsoms is interested in researching the genetics of the plant, as it will save vast amounts of time and money should it be successful. But what actually is a genetic marker? A genetic marker can be a length of DNA code as small as one base-pair, or as large as a whole chromosome. By identifying unique traits within the genetic code, it is possible to screen entire populations for that unique trait and select individuals possessing it to breed from, and use these to produce a new generation. This process cuts out the need for assessing plants purely by their appearance and selecting the good individuals that way (which is very time consuming and often inaccurate). Unfortunately, this is only true for well researched crops such as brassicas. These crops have had their genomes sequenced, so researchers know the genetic sequence and can pick out markers from it. I however have no sequence on which to base my research; I am in effect starting from scratch. The marker systems I am using are already established in other crops. These marker systems are ‘blind’ and rely on the vastness of the genetic code to randomly pick out short pieces of DNA code that could be useful as markers. If I am successful, the same methods could be applied to other understudied crops. At this point in my research, I am based at Warwick HRI establishing the protocols needed to set up a facility at Elsoms Seeds that can do the same and assess the plants in-house. I am also undertaking an MSc by research at the University of Warwick, and a management diploma with the Chartered Management Institute. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are a very worthwhile investment for companies, research institutions and the associates themselves. A KTP is a very demanding job, but the rewards are something I could not have imagined whilst I was studying at university only a year ago.
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Living with Environmental Change The University of Warwick: providing knowledge and tools to help people live with environmental change. We are entering a period of unprecedented environmental change that, if not addressed, threatens ecosystems, agriculture, health and our built environment. In response to this challenge, the UK has launched a major ten-year interdisciplinary research and policy programme, LWEC (Living with Environmental Change). As one of the UK’s leading research and teaching establishments, the University of Warwick is ideally placed to address the global issues connected with environmental change. We have a world-class reputation for innovation, enterprise, and partnership. We deliver knowledge and tools to help people adapt to environmental change and develop the low carbon economy. We provide evidence for policy development by governments, industry and civil society. Through our teaching, communication and outreach programmes, we engage with people over the implications, opportunities and solutions to environmental change.
We continue our series outlining our research projects that fit with the objectives of the LWEC programme LWEC Objectives:
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To predict the impacts of climate change, mitigate or adapt to these and manage extreme events. To manage ecosystems for human well-being and protect the natural environment as it changes. To promote human wellbeing, alleviate poverty and minimise waste by ensuring a sustainable supply of food and water. To protect human, plant and animal health from diseases, pests and environmental hazards.
To make infrastructure, the built environment and transport systems resilient to environmental change. To help people from different cultural and social backgrounds respond to a changing environment.
Plant-microbe interactions and safe, sustainable food production. - led by Dr Paul Hand
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Environmental change imposes additional demands on plant breeders and growers to meet the demand for high quality products. Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns during the growing season will directly affect plant growth, but will also affect the associated microbial populations, including plant- and human- pathogenic bacteria. With colleagues in Applied Microbial Sciences we recently demonstrated the role of plant genetic variation in microbial population structure and dynamics on the lettuce leaf surface. This led to a BBSRC research project with Gad Frankel (Imperial) to characterise the genetic components of the interaction between lettuce genotypes and human pathogens. Our work in Brassicas has included mapping resistance to the important Brassica bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, the causal agent of black rot. Further characterisation and fine mapping of this resistance to aid Brassica breeding in Africa are under way in a collaborative BBSRC/DfID funded SARID project (with Eric Holub and David Pink of Warwick HRI). www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/research/blackrot A key challenge for sustainable food production will be to identify ‘genes for traits‘ and exploit natural allelic diversity in plant genes. A major focus of our research is to develop resources for molecular plant breeding in major horticultural crops. Contact: Dr Paul Hand Email: paul.hand@warwick.ac.uk
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MSc study opportunities
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arwick HRI is dedicated to academic excellence in plant and microbial sciences and the application of research to improve crops and the environment. Teaching and research are underpinned by core capabilities in mathematical biology, biometrics, genomics and bioinformatics.
MSc Food Security
Delivering global food security and access to affordable, safe and nutritious food, is one of the critical challenges of the 21st century. This course will give you an understanding of the elements that contribute to the food security agenda. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscfoodsecurity
MSc Sustainable Crop Production: Agronomy for the 21st Century
This course covers how crops are improved, grown and managed. It will give you the understanding to allow you to adapt to future industry changes influenced by climate change, pressure on resources and food shortage. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscagronomy
MSc Environmental Bioscience in a Changing Climate
Exploiting natural resources affects the global climate, agricultural production and biodiversity. This course explores solutions for the sustainable provision of food, materials, energy and landscape in a changing global environment. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscenvbioscience
MSc Enterprise in Horticulture
This course is designed for those seeking a career in businesses involved in growing, supplying and marketing fresh produce in competitive markets. A commercial placement or research project enables students to put research skills into practice, matching skills and business needs. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscenterprise
MSc Plant Bioscience for Crop production
Global improvements in crop production depend on the knowledge-led application of plant science and biotechnology. This course provides you with curtting-edge research skills across a broad range of plant science disciplines. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscbioscience
MSc by Research
This is a practical course based on a research project under the supervision of a research leader. Warwick HRI’s extensive facilities offer the chance to use the latest technologies for innovative personal study. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscresearch
Taught MSc email enquiries: whri.msc@warwick.ac.uk MSc by Research email enquiries: whri.phd@warwick.ac.uk
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Meet the team...
Professor Richard Napier Director of Graduate Studies Course Leader: MSc Enterprise in Horticulture
Dr Stephen Jackson Director of Postgraduate Research
richard.napier@warwick.ac.uk
stephen.jackson@warwick.ac.uk
Dr Kerry Burton Course Leader: MSc Plant Bioscience for Crop Production
Dr Paul Neve Course Leader: MSc Environmental Bioscience in a Changing Climate
MSc Sustainable Crop Production: Agronomy for the 21st Century
p.neve@warwick.ac.uk
kerry.burton@warwick.ac.uk
Mrs Denny Croft MSc Teaching Co-ordinator whri.msc@warwick.ac.uk
Professor Peter Mills Course Leader: MSc Food Security peter.mills@warwick.ac.uk
Useful websites University of Warwick: www.warwick.ac.uk Warwick HRI: www.warwickhri.ac.uk Postgraduate study: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study International Office: go.warwick.ac.uk/international Take a Tour of Warwick HRI: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/video Preview Podcasts: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/podcasts
www.warwickhri.ac.uk
Miss Nikki Glover Postgraduate Co-ordinator whri.phd@warwick.ac.uk
Warwick HRI The University of Warwick Wellesbourne Warwickshire CV35 9EF UNITED KINGDOM Phone: + 44 (0)2476 574455 Fax: +44 (0) 2476 574500 Taught MSc email enquiries: whri.msc@warwick.ac.uk MSc by Research and PhD email enquiries: whri.phd@warwick.ac.uk Page 6