Professor Jim Monaghan

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Agriculture and Environment, Harper Adams University

Scientific Background

Research Interests

My main areas of interest are based around prebreeding, including phenotyping of crops using germplasm collections and diversity sets, and understanding the physiology and genetics behind beneficial traits linked to climate resilience.

Scientific Inspiration

I have 2 inspirations: Charles Darwin (a local boy!); and my PhD supervisor, who developed my love of phenotyping.

Research Groups

Crop Science Group

Centre for Crop and Environmental Science

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: Developing, questioning, encouraging.

Provision of Training

I will take a close interest in your development with weekly meetings for the first 6 months. The timings will then relax as you take on the leadership of your own research.

Progression Monitoring and Management

You will see me regularly, both formally and around the glasshouse and lab. I love to find out what you are doing and to talk about how you are approaching the research questions. There will be a formal structure underpinning this team culture.

Communication

I use both formal channels and informal catch-ups. We work as a research team so communication can be swift.

Meetings

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me at least once per fortnight. These meetings will be face-to-face. I am usually contactable for an instant response on every working day.

Work Patterns

The timing of work in my lab is completely flexible, and (other than attending pre-arranged meetings) I expect students to manage their own time.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 2 weeks' notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5,000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Primary supervisor for:

Growing Away From Trouble in a Challenging Climate – Validation and Trait Integration of CRISPR-Modified Rapid Rooting Lettuce

See the PhD Opportunities section to see if this project is currently open for applications via MIBTP.

Please Note: The main page lists projects via BBSRC Research Theme(s) quoted and then relevant Topic(s).

Growing Away From Trouble in a Challenging Climate – Validation and Trait Integration of CRISPR-Modified Rapid Rooting Lettuce

Secondary Supervisor(s): Professor Miriam Gifford, Dr Andrew Beacham

University of Registration: Harper Adams University

BBSRC Research Themes:

Sustainable Agriculture and Food (Plant and Crop Science)
Understanding the Rules of Life (Plant Science)

Project Outline

Breeding crops which are resilient to climate change is becoming increasingly essential, and plants that quickly establish root systems have the potential for faster establishment, improved tolerance to abiotic stresses and decreased reliance on inputs such as fertilisers (Roberts et al. Annals of Applied Biology 2020). Hence, root traits are a key area of interest in respect to sustainable intensification of production systems.

This project investigates newly isolated CRISPR rapid rooting lines in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) that originate from previous PhD research carried out in collaboration between the supervisory team.

The project has three aims which can be pursued in parallel, maximising the chance of student success:

Characterisation of rapid rooting lettuce lines, using plant genotypes that are available from a recent PhD project. This will involve confirming CRISPR edits then carrying out preliminary phenotypic and molecular analysis to characterise the mechanism of beneficial effects on lettuce growth and yield.
Phenotypic analysis of rapid rooting lettuce lines in greenhouse and commercial growing conditions (including hydroponics) in order to document full-cycle performance in hydroponic systems used by growers.
Determine the impact of rapid rooting on other traits including drought resilience and nutrient stress conditions. Bioassays that lead to detrimental stress effects in wild-type plants will be run for rapid rooting lines to test for additional beneficial effects.

The project benefits from having access to both the excellent crop research facilities and growth techniques (Wharton et al. Plant Methods 2025) and links to industry partners at Harper Adams University, as well as the bioinformatics and molecular expertise at the University of Warwick.

Overall, the work will validate the agronomic benefits of affecting rapid rooting expression on lettuce yield, and assess impacts on drought tolerance and nutrient uptake.

Co-supervisor on projects with Dr Andrew Beacham and Dr Ed Dickin.