Optimising plant symbiotic bacteria through quorum-sensing and engineering biology approaches for delivery of climate-smart, sustainable nitrogen fer

Hypothesis and aims: Consistent performance of the NZN product relies on a resilient biological agent that remains viable when applied to seeds, adheres to them with high efficiency and successfully colonises the emerging seedlings. Stress resistance, adherence, and plant-microbe interactions are traits often regulated by quorum sensing (QS), a form of bacterial cell-cell communication. Hence, this proposal seeks to investigate QS in NZN strains, the hypothesis being that manipulation of QS may offer innovative ways to ensuring seedling colonisation when upscaling the process of seed inoculation.

The student will investigate this through a combination of microbial genetics, physiological assays and OMICS techniques, with the aim of
Inactivating the QS systems present in the NZN organism
Characterising QS mutants and identifying QS-controlled genes
Establishing conditions that enhance QS phenotypes and improve seedling colonisation
A fall-back option is available should the above project run into difficulties or our hypothesis prove to be incorrect