Circadian rhythms in plant-microbe-soil interactions

"Plants live in close association with complex communities of microbes which together constitute their 'microbiome'. The microbiome interacts with the plant in numerous ways; some microbes are beneficial and promote plant growth, while others are pathogens which reduce crop yields. Understanding and harnessing interactions within the microbiome has enormous importance for devising net zero carbon emission sustainable agricultural systems while ensuring food and energy security, and mitigating the threats posed by climate change and land degradation.
Research at Warwick has demonstrated there are microbial diurnal cycles in the root zone, involving rhythmic changes in transcriptional activity in diverse groups of bacteria and fungi.
This project is dedicated to deriving the detailed understanding of diurnal root meta-transcriptome dynamics (i.e. plant and microbial transcriptomes) and investigate the links between plant and microbial gene expression. The overarching goal of this project is to investigate the extent to which diurnal dynamics of microbial community activity and function are linked to diurnal cycles of carbon flow to the root zone and changes in plant gene expression associated with the plant circadian clock. Establishing the implications of circadian interactions in the root zone for food security is also considered in the study.
A variety of experimental resources, including plant mutants with altered circadian clock genes will be used in this project. These will be used together with amplicon, metagenome and meta-transcriptome sequencing, and quantitative PCR to profile the structure, abundance and functional characteristics of the microbiome, and key microbial groups with specialized functional traits. Metabolomic analysis of the root zone will also be conducted, together with functional analyses of microbial communities."