PhD Scholarship in Plant Gene Technology – Australia

In Africa the number of people that must be fed is growing faster than the supply of food.  CSIRO Plant Industry with Monash University are offering a PhD Scholarship for 4 years with a stipend of $25,000 per year to help address this problem.  The position will be located in Canberra.

PhD Scholarship in Plant Gene Technology – Insect Resistant Plants for the Worlds Poor
CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra
Ref: 2009/1

Applications close 13 March 2009

CSIRO has a PHD Scholarship to offer for 4 years with a stipend of $25,000 per year.

In Africa the number of people that must be fed is growing faster than the supply of food. There is a need to produce more food at a lower cost on less land with fewer chemical inputs of fertilizer and pesticides. Better crop genetics is one of the keys.

One of the crucial crops for Africa is cowpea. It is high in protein and provides amino acids that compliment the mainly cereal diets. It also has one of the best plant sources of folic acid. This hardy plant thrives on low rainfall and in low-fertility soils, typical conditions across the cowpea basket of West Africa.

Cowpea is devastated by insects, both in the field and in storage after harvest. Insect-resistant, genetically-modified (GM) crop plants can help produce more food in an environmentally-friendly way. A GM-cowpea expressing a gene from the soil microbe, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), is now in development. Although Bt cowpea will be to protect against the caterpillar Maruca vitrata, other insect pests will continue to plague cowpea both in the field and in storage. Most important of these are cowpea flower thrips, pod-sucking bugs and cowpea weevils. Weevil-resistant cowpea grain, were it available, would help secure the seeds from destruction during storage after harvest.

This project will test a novel method for protecting against insect pests of cowpea, one that compliments the use of a Bt gene. The target is the insect midgut, the essential interface separating the insect from the outside world. Several years of study by colleagues at Purdue University have revealed that there are many insect-specific genes expressed in the midgut epithelium that are vital for digestion and absorption. Silencing of these key genes could disrupt physiological and biochemical processes crucial to the survival of insects. This strategy would affect the pest insect only and pose little or no hazard to other animals consuming the plant.

Should you require more information on this position please visit https://recruitment.csiro.au/asp/Job_Details.asp?RefNo=2009%2F1 or contact Dr TJ Higgins (CSIRO Plant Industry) TJ.Higgins-at-csiro.au.