Robigalia Roundup #6

Hello Robigalia Reader and welcome back to another week of Robigalia, delivering the latest research, tools, and opportunities in plant pathology.

This week we learn about a long-term Phytophthora monitoring study in south-west Western Australia, an online tool to help with writing in real-time, and several new exciting post-doc opportunities available to ECRs. As always, Robigalia subscribers can access my online database with summaries of Robigalia featured articles.

Keep reading for the latest updates!

Plant pathology research

Phytophthora cinnamomi: extent and impact in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia (1983–2024)

The south-west of Western Australia is a global biodiversity hotspot, boasting magnificent flora. Unfortunately, the flora in this region has been significantly impacted by the soil-borne oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi.

Two People Bay Nature Reserve is located 35 km from the coastal city of Albany, WA. Plant declines were observed in the reserve in 1981, leading to the discovery of P. cinnamomi in the region. Since this detection, dieback surveys have been conducted to monitor the impacts on the native flora.

This study from the DBCA measured the pathogen's long-term spread (1983 - 2024) through the reserve by mapping the patterns of dead trees over time and collecting soil samples to test for pathogen persistence in the soil. They found the pathogen moved an average of 1.5 meters per year over a 33-year period from 1995 to 2024, reducing species abundance and biomass in infected areas. The authors also assessed the number of bird visitors between infected and unaffected sites finding an 88% reduction at infected sites, highlighting the direct and indirect impacts of the pathogen.

Research tools you’re loving

Grammarly

I’ve heard great things about Grammarly, and have just started using the free version. Grammarly is a writing assistant that helps users write more clearly and accurately. It checks for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style errors, offering suggestions to enhance the overall quality of writing in real-time.

Grammarly integrates with a variety of tools. It supports browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari; email clients like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail; productivity tools such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, and Trello; social media platforms including X and LinkedIn; and communication apps like Discord and Zoom. These integrations allow Grammarly to provide real-time writing assistance across your favourite apps.

If you’ve used it before and think it’s worth the premium fee, let me know in the comments!

Research student of the week

COMING SOON!

🌟 Want to highlight your research to plant pathologists from across the globe? Fill out the EOI and I will feature you and your research in Robigalia 🌟

PhD Scholarships and Jobs

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

PhD Scholarships

• ** Several PhD Positions in Plant and Microbial Sciences at the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory, UK

• ** Graduate Student Position in Smart Plant Pathology Lab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• The Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) and the University of Cologne are recruiting 7 PhD students with a keen interest in experimental, mathematical & computational plant biology

• Predicting fungicide resistance evolution: combining theoretical and experimental approaches, University of Cambridge

• 2 - 3 stipends in wheat breeding, genetics/genomics of agronomic, quality, pest resistance traits, genomic selection, University of Alberta

• Be sure to regularly check out the CSIRO Industry PhD Program website which includes all of the current PhD Scholarship opportunities in Australia

Jobs

• ** The DAFF Plant Innovation Centre is hiring for two positions in plant biosecurity research based in Mickleham

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Plant Virology & Vector Biology at Macquarie University

• Post-doc opportunity in Quantitative Disease Resistance. Use high-throughput phenotyping & transcriptomics to find QDR regulators in quinoa

Other News and Opportunities

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

• ** Join the Plant-Microbiome Interaction Symposium at the John Innes Centre, 10-11 February 2025

• ** A call for abstract submission is open to attend the Virtual Annual Diagnostics Workshop (ADW) 2024-25 as part of the National Plant Biosecurity Diagnostic Network the week starting 11 November 2024

• Save the date for the Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union happening July 6 - 10th in Italy

• Register your interest for the 17th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference in Sydney in June 2025

• Save the date for the 25th Australasian Plant Pathology Society conference in Sydney in May 2025

• Nominations are now open for the 2025 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) awards. Nominations close on November 29th 2024.

Meme of the week

Before you go…

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

• Think a friend (or two) could benefit from reading? I’d love it if you could share this link with them.

Until next week,

Alyssa