PhD Opportunity

Background:

Brassica vegetables such as cabbage and kale are important crops worldwide with considerable health benefits. However, with the many challenges these crops face from pest, disease and climate, there is a need to improve breeding pipelines. Whilst genetic diversity enables species to adapt to changing environments, the process of self-pollination results in progeny with reduced genetic diversity. Many plant species have developed a self-incompatibility (SI) system to reduce the chances of this happening and hence promote genetic diversity through favouring genetic exchange through outcrossing. The Brassica SI system is primarily determined by two co-evolved genes located adjacent to each other at a single genetic locus (the S-locus), and when the signalling mechanism is initiated, pollen is prevented from pollinating on the stigma. Approximately sixty different S-alleles have been identified in B. oleracea, with very few having been characterised at the sequence level. Whilst this system is important for maintaining diversity in wild plants, it is a major hindrance to breeders and researchers who need to make seed of pure-bred brassica lines. Developing a technique by which the process could be controlled would lead to significant economic benefits, and improved brassica breeding pipelines.