Three PhDs open in collaboration with LettUs Grow

Aeroponics has the potential to change the way we grow, distribute and eat food, and could be a key component in the fight against climate change; but from an academic standpoint, very little is known about it. There are currently three PhDs open, in collaboration with LettUs Grow, which aim to fill this knowledge gap.
***Now is a great time to get in on the ground floor to lay the foundational research which will help this environmentally friendly industry to grow.***

Enhancing crop growth consistency in vertical farms

Deadline: 25 November

Applications are open for a funded PhD studentship in the laboratories of Antony Dodd and Steven Penfield at the John Innes Centre, in collaboration with LettUs Grow. The project aim is to use fundamental science to increase the consistency and uniformity of crop production in vertical farms. Vertical farms use stacked indoor systems, often in urban areas and using artificial lights and climate control, to produce food in a sustainable and land use efficient manner.

The project will combine fundamental research into plant circadian rhythms, seasonal responses and seed biology at the John Innes Centre with experimentation in the experimental vertical farm environment at LettUs Grow. The project has the long-term goal of providing benefits to the vertical farming business whilst making new discoveries and the frontiers of knowledge of plant environmental adaptation.

The project will provide training in fundamental plant sciences research with Arabidopsis and a variety of standard molecular biology approaches for investigating plant responses to the environment. Training will also be provided in specialized methods for investigation of circadian rhythms (e.g. collection and mathematical analysis of circadian timecourse data), data synthesis and the preparation and publication of high quality research papers. A student placement at LettUs Grow in Bristol will form the foundation for ongoing collaboration with the company throughout your PhD.

More information about this PhD can be found here

Characterising the effect of root secretions in vertical farming systems

Deadline: 2nd December

Applications are open for a funded PhD studentship in the laboratories of Bristol University, in collaboration with LettUs Grow. Aeroponics uses 95% less water than traditional field farming and grows plants in a pesticide-free environment. Also, LettUs Grow’s patent-pending system increases the growth rate of crops by up to 70%. The potential may be even greater because current biological knowledge of aeroponic farming is patchy. One of the biggest unknowns is how plants change their environment. Plants secrete between 20-40% of assimilated carbon as compounds (exudates) to help optimise their growing conditions. Knowing how these exudates affect plant growth could be used to improve crop choice and cultivation practices. Also, studies at a molecular and cellular level can help us learn more about how these compounds contribute to plant root health, plant communities, and plant-environment interactions.

You will use the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to explore how plants defective in exudate composition grow, respond to change in growth conditions, and what compounds these plants can and cannot produce. You will use live cell imaging, quantitative assays to measure plantsubstrate adhesion, immunochemistry, statistical analyses, and bioinformatic approaches, along with molecular biology techniques. The results will enable you to evaluate exudate composition and investigate how individual genes and compounds contribute.

Using what you learn in the lab, you can test what exudates collect in aeroponic media and what effects this might have on plant growth and production.The findings from this project will have high impact in both the scientific and commercial fields that will help develop new agricultural strategies whilst expanding our foundational knowledge of plant-environment interactions.

More information about this PhD can be found here

Enhancing the stress tolerance and shelf life of horticultural crops through light quality manipulation

Deadline: 2nd December

Applications are open for a funded PhD studentship in the laboratories of Bristol University, in collaboration with LettUs Grow. Despite comprising a small component of sunlight, UV-B wavelengths (280-315 nm) regulate a diverse array of regulatory processes in plants, including growth, metabolite content and resistance to pests and diseases. UV-B wavelengths are absent from horticultural lighting and are attenuated by common greenhouse materials. As such, UV-B is depleted in many commercial growing environments. Plant robustness and shelf life are of significant importance to the horticultural industry. This project aims to combine environmental signalling in Arabidopsis with translational crop science. The role of UV-B in delaying plant senescence will be investigated in Arabidopsis using a range of physiological and molecular techniques. Together with, LettUs Grow, you will evaluate the effectiveness of UV-B in enhancing the robustness of aeroponically-grown crops to abiotic stress. This project will require the student to spend time at the LettUs Grow site, in Bristol

More information about this PhD can be found here