PhD Studentship: Understanding How Plants Influence Climate-cooling Gas Production

Primary supervisor - Dr Ben Miller

Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gases that have a negative impact on climate change. However, some gases produced because of agriculture may in fact have a climate cooling effect. Our recent work shows that many plants, including several crop species, are producers of a compound called dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and we have recently discovered the first plant genes responsible for DMSP production. DMSP is key in the global sulfur and carbon cycles, and is the main precursor of the climate-active gas dimethylsulfide (DMS). DMS is oxidised to sulfate aerosols that accelerate cloud formation and have an overall climate cooling effect. Although DMSP is established as an anti-stress molecule in algae and bacteria, its role in plants and the impact of DMS production from agriculture is less well understood. In this PhD project, we will explore how DMSP/DMS is produced by plants, with a particular focus on crops. The student will use molecular and physiological approaches to understand the role of DMSP/DMS, evaluating production in plants grown under different conditions using established analytical techniques, e.g. gas chromatography. They will also build on our recent work identifying DMSP synthesis genes and test how manipulation of these can be used to alter DMSP levels in plants. The student will also measure production of climate-active gases and explore their agricultural impacts. 

Entry requirements

The standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1 (Hons) in Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences or Natural Sciences.

Start date: 1 February 2025

Mode of study: Full-time

References

1. Payet et al. (2024) Nature Communications. In press
2. Carrión et al. (2023) Advances in Microbial Physiology. doi:10.1016/bs.ampbs.2023.03.001
3. Peng et al. (2022) Nature Communications. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30491-5
4. Williams et al. (2019) Nature Microbiology. doi:10.1038/s41564-019-0527-1 

Funding Details

Additional Funding Information

This PhD studentship is funded for 3 years by the Faculty of Science at UEA, Felix Cobbold Trust and The John Innes Foundation. Funding is available to UK applicants only.  Funding comprises home tuition fees and an annual stipend of £19,237 for a maximum of 36 months.

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