Investigating the influence of temperature on meiotic recombination (MORGAN_J25RS)
Key Details
- Application deadline
- 9 April 2025 (midnight UK time)
- Location
- John Innes Centre
- Funding type
- Directly funded (UK/Home students only)
- Start date
- 1 October 2025
- Mode of study
- Full-time
- Programme type
- PhD
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Project description
Primary supervisor - Dr Chris Morgan
It has long been recognised that temperature affects meiotic crossover rates in a variety of species and that extreme high temperature can disrupt meiosis, leading to reduced fertility and yield in many crops. However, a detailed mechanistic understanding of why temperature affects meiotic recombination is currently lacking. We recently proposed a new model to explain how meiotic crossover rate and position is determined, based on the coarsening behaviour of a conserved protein, HEI10. Since HEI10 coarsening is envisioned as a physical process it is likely to be affected by temperature, and this in turn could help explain the mystery of why temperature affects crossover patterning. During this project,the student will study the interplay between temperature and crossover patterning and discover whether temperature-induced changes in coarsening dynamics can explain the long-recognised effect of temperature on recombination rate and fertility.This project will improve our fundamental understanding of how and why meiotic recombination is so exquisitively sensitive to temperature stress and, importantly, could pave the way for developing technologies to stregthen the temperature tolerance of meiosis and to ameliorate the impact of climate change on global crop yields.
For further information and to apply, please visit our website.
Entry requirements
At least UK equivalence Bachelors (Honours) 2:1 or UK equivalence Masters degree. English language requirement (Faculty of Science equivalent: IELTS 6.5 overall, 6 in each category).
Funding
This project is awarded with a 4-year Royal Society PhD studentship. This is open to Home Fee Status applicants only. Tuition fees at Home Rate only are covered, and a stipend will be provided for each year of the studentship (2025/6 rate is £20,034.00).