Epidemiology of Phytophthora ramorum on Larix spp. and host responses to infection

Summary Description:

Forest ecosystems in Britain are highly vulnerable to invasive Phytophthora spp., including Phytophthora ramorum, which is causing severe economic losses to larch across the west of the country. This PhD project aims to investigate natural resistance in larch to P. ramorum by studying disease epidemiology and variations in host response. This will enable a greater understanding of the potential to exploit natural resistance/tolerance to P. ramorum in a larch breeding programme.

The specific project objectives are; i) investigate the epidemiology of P. ramorum on larch in SW Scotland, ii) determine whether differences in susceptibility occur between European larch (EL) and Japanese larch (JL) to EU1 and EU2 lineages of P. ramorum, and iii) examine the molecular interactions between P. ramorum and JL and EL in order to identify key host immune responses.