Robigalia Roundup XXXIII

Hello Robigalia Readers,

If you’re new here, Robigalia is your weekly roundup of the latest research, researchers, scholarships, and opportunities in plant pathology globally.

Now onto this week’s newsletter…

I highlight a recent study examining the geographic spread of cotton leafroll dwarf virus

I introduce Israel Arellano, a PhD student at Texas A&M University.

As always, there are several new job and PhD opportunities listed. Make sure you’re a subscriber to have these opportunities and events delivered directly to your inbox every Monday.

Weekly Plant Pathology Highlights

• Data Mining Redefines the Timeline and Geographic Spread of Cotton Leafroll Dwarf Virus
  

• Resistance of Soybean (Glycine max (L) Merrill) Genotypes to Soybean Rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi) in Ethiopia
  

• First report of Pythium ultimum causing Pythium leak disease in potatoes in Colorado
  

• Cryphonectriaceae: Biodiverse and Threatening Tree Pathogens in the Tropics and Southern Hemisphere

Research Student of the Week

⭐ Meet Israel Arellano⭐

This week, we meet Israel Arellano, a PhD student at Texas A&M University.

Israel's journey into plant pathology began during his master's program, where he worked with Arabidopsis studying various auxin signalling components. His perspective on the field was transformed by the publication of "A phase-separated nuclear GBPL circuit controls immunity in plants" in Nature. This work reshaped Israel's view of plant pathology, showing him that the field is far more complex and innovative than his earlier, admittedly limited understanding of it as merely "counting dead spots on plants."

Now, Israel is researching plant defence mechanisms through his work on understudied plant signalling molecules. His work focuses on 9-oxylipins, compounds that play critical roles in plant defence and development but remain poorly understood.

Currently, he is examining two closely related genes, ZmLOX4 and ZmLOX5. Despite sharing 94% amino acid sequence identity, these genes exhibit opposite effects when responding to different pathogens: southern corn leaf blight (a necrotroph) and anthracnose leaf blight/stalk rot (a hemibiotroph). His data suggests these differences stem from the distinct oxylipins produced by each gene, particularly the 9-oxylipins.

Israel's short-term goal is to focus on publishing his research. Long-term, his ambition is to publish in Nature as many of his favourite papers in plant physiology and plant pathology have appeared in this journal. Beyond his scientific aspirations, Israel's greatest goal is to become a father whom his future children can look up to and be proud of.

Israel offers valuable advice for future students in plant pathology. He emphasises the importance of practising humility, understanding laboratory dynamics, maintaining open communication with advisors, and having a clear vision of personal development throughout the program.

If you want to find out more about Israel’s research, you can reach him via LinkedIn or post your questions in the comments.

Scholarships and Jobs

New opportunities below are indicated by two asterisks at the start of the entry **

🌟 If you have a scholarship or job available in your group, fill in this form to have it listed in Robigalia 🌟

PhD/Master’s Scholarships

• ** PhD, Plant-pathogenic Fungus Interaction, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands (Closes 16th June)

• ** MiCRop Gravitation Program (Microbial Imprinting for Crop Resilience) is hiring eight PhD and postdoctoral researchers, Netherlands (Various close dates)

• ** PhD, Pre-conditioning of natural enemies for better biological control of insect pests in grain crops, Murdoch University (Closes 15th July)

• iPhD with CSIRO, Southern Cross University, and Jagun Alliance in applied plant pathology and sustainable agriculture. Domestic students only. (Apply by 28th July)

• 2 fully-funded PhD at Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. 1: Molecular Study of Parasitoids in Stink Bug Egg Masses, 2: Woolly Apple Aphid Infestation in Apple Orchards. Both start in November 2025. (Apply by 11th June)

• CSIRO Industry PhD Program - Completing The Puzzle: Integrating Automated Spore Counts into Real-time Crop Disease Management

• M.Sc. in Plant Pathology at Brandon University, Canada

Jobs

• ** Postdoctoral Scientist, Quantitative Disease Resistance in Quinoa, Germany (Apply ASAP)

• ** Scientist - Entomology, Alice Holt, Farnham, Surrey (Closes 15th June)

• Corteva Agriscience is seeking a Field Scientist to join the Crop Health Research and Development (CHRD) Integrated Field Science (IFS) team in the South San Joaquin Valley of California (No close date listed)

• Research Associate - Plant Pathologist (Contractor) for Bayer in Thondebhavi, India. Email your CV to [email protected]

• Scientist – Plant Virology, The World Vegetable Center, Taiwan (Closes 15th June)

• Head of Plant Pathology, The College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources at North Dakota State University (Closes 16th June)

• Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow: Forest Health Specialist, South Australia (Apply by 9 June 2025)

• Senior Technical Officer: Forest Health, South Australia (Apply by 19 June 2025)

• Postdoctoral position on insect-fungal mutualisms and plant pathology, Berasategui Lab, (Closes 6th June)

• Pre-doctoral Research Assistant - Computational Biology & Lab Automation, (Closes 15th June)

• Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Plant-Microbe Interaction – University of Florida (Closes June 15th)

• Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the University of Florida (UF) Plant Pathology Department (Closes 15th June)

• Postdoc in Biochemistry and Plant Biology to study the function and interaction of Pathogenesis-Related proteins from plants and pathogens (No close date)

• Join the Potnis Lab in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University as a Research Associate in computational biology (No close date)

• Post-Doctoral Associate - epidemiology, molecular characterization, and management of Verticillium dahliae and Colelcotricum coccodes (Open until filled)

Events

• ** XVII IOBC Meeting about Biological and Integrated Control of Plant Pathogens , with 150 presentations of 4 days Happening 11 - 14 June 2025 in Torino, Italy.

• The 17th International Cereal Rusts and Powdery Mildews Conference (ICRPMC2025) is happening for 15-20 Jun, 2025 in Vancouver, British Columbia

• Australasian myrtle rust conference happening 16 - 17 Jun 2025 in Auckland, NZ

•  Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union happening 6 - 10 Jul, 2025, in Bari, Italy

• Register now for the Annual conference of the Oomycete Molecular Genetics Network happening 12th July 2025 in Cologne, Germany

• Register for the 20th Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, happening 13-17 Jul 2025, in Cologne, Germany​

• ​Plant Health 2025, happening ​August 2-5 in Honolulu, Hawaii

• ICPPP 2025: International Conference on Phytopathology and Plant Pathology, happening 21-22 Aug, 2025 in Rome, Italy

• Register for Plant Pathology 2025 and Early Careers Plant Pathology 2025, happening 9 - 11 Sept 2025 in Nottingham, UK

• Register to attend the Great Lakes Plant Science Conference (GLPSC 2025) happening 12 - 14 Sept 2025 at Michigan State University

• The 12th Meeting of the IUFRO Working Party Phytophthora in Forests and Natural Ecosystems is happening 13 - 18 Sept, 2026 in the Cape region of South Africa

Other Opportunities

Meme of the week

Before you go…

• Like or didn’t like this newsletter format? Let me know if the comments!

• Head over to the Robigalia Instagram for additional plant pathology content

Until next week,

Alyssa

_{** Disclaimer: No dogs were harmed in the production of this newsletter.}