Description du sujet de thèse

Thesis in microbiome adaptation to support plant stress tolerance.
Environmental change's ongoing and magnifying consequences present a complex challenge for plants and thus for food security. One mechanism by which plants promote long-term stress tolerance is via interactions with beneficial microbiome members. However, the functions of most of the thousands of taxa found in plant microbiomes are not understood, with only a few exceptions (e.g., rhizobia). Even less is understood about their roles in determining plant stress tolerance.
Plant-microbiome relationships have been altered by plant domestication, agricultural management practices, and the changing climate While many studies have reported microorganisms that promote plant growth promotion and stress tolerance, a key challenge is in maintaining the long-term persistence and activities of beneficial microorganisms after they are inoculated to plants in the field. This thesis research will advance understanding of how to support plant and crop resilience to drought and heat stress via supportive microbiome adaptation and selection. The project will focus on quantifying the activity dynamics of the microbiome and leveraging those activated microbes to maintain plant health during climate-related stress. It will partition the effects of the stress from the effects of host-feedback on the microbiome responses.

Contexte de travail

This Ph.D. is part of the European Research Council Consolidator Award: MicroRescue: Resolving mechanisms of microbiome rescue to promote resilience to climate change. The position is under the supervision of Dr. Ashley Shade (https://ashley17061.wixsite.com/shadelab). The MicroRescue project aims to understand the responses of active environmental microbiomes members to climate change stress, and the consequences of these responses for microbial functions that influence plants and soils. By understanding and predicting dormant microorganisms' capacity to recover or stabilize microbial functions, the project will develop strategies for plant resilience. The thesis will use multi-factor experiments, to advance understanding of the ecology of plant-microbiome resilience. The successful candidate will join a highly motivated MicroRescue project team that is committed to high scientific integrity, open and reproducible science, and promoting inclusivity.

The work will be performed in the laboratory of Microbial Ecology (Laboratoire Ecologie Microbienne, LEM, https://www.ecologiemicrobiennelyon.fr/ ) at the Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France and will access excellent research facilities and platforms at the "La Doua" campus. The hosting laboratory, Laboratoire Ecologie Microbienne, boasts over 70 permanent microbial ecologists collaborating among eight teams with five technical platforms supporting precise analyses of microbial activities, natural products, and genomes. The project is within the ”Rhizo” team at the LEM, which offers both breadth and depth of expertise in plant-microbe interactions.

Contraintes et risques

Travel is possible to collect samples in the field or to attend scientific meetings to promote results.

Informations complémentaires

Applicants should submit in English 1) a current curriculum vitae ; 2) a cover letter describing their interests and how their skills and experiences align with the thesis needs; 3) contact information for three professional references.