Robigalia Roundup XL

Hello {{first_name | Robigalia Readers}},

Welcome back to another edition of the Robigalia Roundup!

If you’re new here, Robigalia is your weekly roundup of the latest research, researchers, scholarships, and opportunities in plant pathology globally. Make sure you’re a subscriber to have these opportunities and events delivered directly to your inbox every Monday.

I love a preprint, and this one from the Sainsbury Lab published last week didn’t disappoint. Using structural biology techniques, the researchers revealed a previously unknown vulnerability in plant immunity, showing how pathogens like Phytophthora infestans interfere with plant defences by stalling, rather than blocking, immune activation. Instead of interfering with pathogen detection, the researchers identified a pathogen effector that disrupts the assembly of resistosomes. With our understanding of resistosomes still developing, this research is an important piece of the puzzle in understanding their formation and the interplay with pathogen effectors.

Now, onto this week’s roundup. There are four new job opportunities listed and several PhD scholarships. I also introduce Mitch Ritzinger, a PhD student at North Dakota State University.

Let’s dive in!

⭐ Meet Mitch Ritzinger⭐

This week, we meet Mitch Ritzinger, a PhD student at North Dakota State University.

Always drawn to a career in science, Mitch was interested in projects that allowed him to actively solve problems and improve the lives of others and our planet. During a gap year, when he volunteered at a children’s home, Mitch learned about subsistence agriculture, which allowed him to learn from and build relationships with local farmers and community leaders, and assist them in solving day-to-day agricultural production issues at the home and other locations.

Following this, Mitch explored plant pathology and genetics, conducting large-scale germplasm screening field studies during his MS at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, focusing on finding resistance to bacterial leaf streak in barley (caused by Xanthomonas translucens pv. translucens). This provided Mitch with a foundational skill set to build on and led to the publication of his first two first-authored papers.

Now in his Phd, Mitch’s research projects focus on mapping and cloning disease resistance and susceptibility genes in barley in response to the spot form net blotch pathogen Pyrenophora teres f. maculata, or “Ptm”, and several Puccinia ssp. He uses mapping and transgenic approaches to localise, identify, and characterise the genes underlying important traits for both basic and applied perspectives, including plant morphology and metabolism, as well as those involved in host-parasite interactions. While currently enjoying his mapping projects, Mitch is excited to clone his first gene soon using a combination of traditional complementation tests and CRISPR-derived gene knockouts.

Mitch’s advice to fellow plant pathology students: “It pays dividends in the long run to do a deep, thorough literature (and methods) review early on in your PhD, to help you understand the rationale and workflow/processes involved in your project. I would encourage students to explore their interests, and tailor their classes/research projects to building their desired skill set and knowledge base, for whatever dream job you want to spend the rest of your life doing.”

When not in the lab, you’ll find Mitch gardening in the summer, and he keeps a lot of houseplants and herbs around his apartment. He also has two cats, who in Mitch’s words are “super sweet and adorable”

If you would like to learn more about Mitch’s research, you can contact him via LinkedIn or post your questions in the comments.

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

Until next week,

Alyssa

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