News

Professor Jose Gutierrez-Marcos and an international team of researchers have uncovered the mechanism that allows plants to pass on their ‘memories’ to offspring, which results in growth and developmental defects.

Press Release (1 December 2020)

We are seeking an enthusiastic and committed postdoctoral Research Fellow with good experience of plant cultivation and molecular biology to join an existing team working on the prestigious DEFRA funded Vegetable Genetic improvement Network (VEGIN) at the University of Warwick.
The basis of the VeGIN network is to deliver vegetable crop improvements through the identification of markers and genes underlying traits of interest.

A key part of the job will be to liaise with our industrial and academic stakeholders to ensure that the research being carried out is delivering benefits to the industry.

The current research involves projects looking at developing novel plant genetic material, and screening for pest and disease resistance

The role will be based at the Wellesbourne Campus but will also involve some work on the main Warwick campus and also out with our collaborator Harper Adams University.

More information and to apply

A healthy looking vegetable from the supermarkets, largely free from blemishes and creepy crawlies is very likely to have been treated multiple times with different pesticides. Pesticides in crop production however usually affect a wider range of species than those we want to control, they are an extra cost to farmers, and they confer a high selection pressure on the pests which in time inevitably evolve resistance to the chemical and thus diminish its efficacy. One way to reduce the environmental impact of pest control is to breed plants that are innately resistant to the pests. More information

Picture: lettuce infected by the fungus-like oomycete pathogen downy mildew (Bremia lactucae)

All Crop Centre articles as part of International Year of Plant Health 2020