Flanders Reseach Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food hosting offers for MSCA-IF postdoc fellowships in Plant Sciences

MSCA postdoc fellowship hosting offers for 2021 call

The Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) is a public research institute located in Belgium. ILVO performs multidisciplinary, innovative and independent research aimed at economically, ecologically and socially sustainable agriculture and fisheries. Through this research, ILVO accumulates fundamental and applied knowledge which is vital for the improvement of products and production methods, for quality control and the safety of end products, and for the amelioration of policy instruments as a foundation for sector development and agricultural policy for rural areas.

Recently, some important management decisions have been made to orientate the research at ILVO in a holistic framework of systems thinking as well as to combine ILVO's tacit knowledge with new technological approaches like genomics, metabolomics, (remote) sensing technology, artificial intelligence, precision farming, innovative food/feed production technology, new breeding technologies, animal models, modelling as well as participatory social sciences approaches. This means that a lot of the research at ILVO is conducted in Living Labs, such as a Food Pilot, fishing vessels, modern greenhouses and animal farming units, and in the context of inter- and transdisciplinary research. To accelerate and further improve this new research process, ILVO is looking to host young and experienced researchers at post-doc level in the framework of Marie Sklodowska-Curie individual fellowships within the new Horizon Europe framework programmaoriHor.

Possible research items are shown below and are divided over the different research units of ILVO. Please contact the respective contact persons if you are interested in a specific item or research unit.

Plant Sciences

Contact persons: Isabel Roldan; isabel.roldan-ruiz@ilvo.vlaanderen.be

Johan Van Huylenbroeck; johan.vanhuylenbroeck@ilvo.vlaanderen.be

*Precision crop phenotyping.

Precision phenotyping is very relevant in the context of plant breeding. ILVO develops dedicated plant phenotyping tools based on the capture and analysis of images obtained under controlled environments, in the greenhouse or in the field. In the field we use drones that can be equipped with different cameras (visual, NIR, thermal, hyperspectral). We have phenotyping experience with different crops, including forage grasses, maize, wheat or soybean. In the context of these activities, ILVO is partner of the Belgian plant phenotyping node.

*Functional-Structural Plant Modelling.

Functional-Structural Plant models (FSPM) are mathematical descriptions of plants, in which ecophysiology is merged with plant architecture. As such, virtual three-dimensional plant models are generated and used to perform in silico experiments. These models are innovative tools for studying competition (e.g. crops with weeds) and mutualism (e.g. agroforestry) between species. Furthermore, FSPMs are used to design ideal theoretical phenotypes for specific climatic/geographical areas, or specific growing systems, assisting breeders to select and cross plants with interesting beneficial traits.

*Pollen metabarcoding.

Next generation sequencing (NGS) and more specifically amplicon sequencing can be used to investigate the taxonomic composition of complex samples. Based on the sequence variants present in the pool of amplicons, the taxonomic composition is determined. At ILVO, we have both wet-lab (library preparation) and dry-lab (bioinformatics) experience with molecular barcodes corresponding to different groups of organisms, such as bacteria (16S), fungi (ITS2), nematodes (18S). We have the ambition to extend our molecular toolbox with protocols for pollen metabarcoding using one or more barcodes suited for plants, for example rbcL, matK or ITS. These protocols can be used to investigate pollination networks and plant-pollinator interactions, aspects of particular relevance for optimizing the seed yield of insect-pollinated crops.

*Exploring genetic diversity in breeding genepools.

In an integrated approach, we develop strategies that combine functional gene annotation and candidate gene selection for agronomical relevant traits. For instance, pathways that control plant architecture (related to yield), or secondary metabolite biosynthesis (related to quality). We then design highly efficient Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) based genotyping assays to screen for genetic diversity in breeding germplasm, and combine this with bioinformatics approaches to predict the functional consequences of DNA-polymorphisms. This approach to identify naturally occurring genetic polymorphisms is complemented with the development of highly multiplex CRISPR-Cas genome editing techniques for the targeted introduction of sequence variants in multiple genes of the same pathway or multiple members of a given gene family. Combined, these techniques allow to identify or create elite breeding materials.

*Unravelling plant behavior using machine learning.

Grasslands cover a large part of the agricultural and natural area, and are therefore agronomical and ecologically of substantial importance. In the face of Climate Change, it is essential to understand the behavior of grasses in response to the environment in which they grow to safeguard the diversity they harbor and the ecosystem and economic services that they deliver. ILVO has completed several projects with multi-location field experiments in which large sets of phenotypic and genomic data have been generated. We use machine learning techniques to explore patterns in the reaction of plants to their environment, and develop predictive models of their response to future climatic conditions. These machine learning models are used to study the effect of Climate Change on grassland adaptation at the genotype and phenotype level, and assist breeders in the selection of plants with the highest potential.

*In vitro regeneration of (recalcitrant) protoplasts.

ILVO- Plant Science Unit has gained experience in protoplast regeneration in various crops. Regeneration is very species dependent and the process has been thoroughly monitored, however without in-depth understanding of its molecular and physiological backgrounds. Comparing regenerative and non-regenerative circumstances for particular genotypes will provide more insight. The effects of culture system, phytohormone addition, medium refreshment…will be evaluated. More precisely, we want to study phytohormone metabolism with an array of chromatographic tools, evaluate genome silencing and DNA condensation with molecular and microscopic tools and link these to particular regeneration events (first divisions, callus formation, organogenesis…). Subsequently the effect of significant parameters will be tested on non-regenerative genotypes.

*Mass spectrometric analysis for plant (a)biotic stress hormone profiling using LC-MS/MS and LC-HRMS methods.

Within ILVO-Plant Sciences Unit breeding involves the evaluation of stresses in plants. Plant hormone analysis by MS is available for different stress related hormones such as salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, abscisic acid, etc. The goal is to reveal relationships between plant developmental stages, genotype, etc. and plant hormone regulated stress responses. Stresses involve drought, insects, mites and pathogens.

*Ornamental plant breeding.

ILVO-Plant Sciences Unit has ongoing breeding programmes in azalea, nursery plants and garden roses in close collaboration with growers. Therefore different techniques are used linked to (interspecific) hybridisation and to overcome pre- and postzygotic incompatibilities: embryo rescue, genomic and fluorescent in situ hybridisation (GISH and FISH), molecular markers, ploidy and genome size estimation, fertility testing, etc. Specific breeding goals we focus on are new innovative genotypes, scent, disease resistance, compact plants, etc. Research can be performed on a specific crop for a specific breeding goal using different techniques.