Anika is a PhD student (2022-2026) in the Plant-Parasite Interactions group (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge) and part of the CTP Programme Sustainable Agricultural Innovation, supported by CUPGRA. After her BSc in Agricultural Science at the University of Bonn from 2016-2019, she completed her MSc in Crop Sciences at the University of Hohenheim from 2019-2021. 
 
In her PhD thesis, Anika investigates the biology underlying plant-nematode interactions. The principal question her research aims to address is: “How do nematodes tailor their gene expression to successfully infect plants?”. Every animal has thousands of genes, each of which contributes to some parts of their life cycle. In the case of plant-parasitic nematodes, some of these genes (termed “effectors”) help the nematode to successfully manipulate and reshape the plant to support parasitism. These genes must be deployed in the right time and place, and in the right combination with other genes. It is this internal regulation of genes that is the focus of Anika’s research.

The central hypothesis is that by disrupting the regulation of these genes, we can disrupt the production of many effectors at once and thereby take away the key tools the nematode needs to infect the plant. This would open up manifold novel ways to control nematodes in the longer-term.
 

The University of Cambridge extends its sincere gratitude to the CUPGRA for the gift to support a Research Fellow in Crop Sciences focusing on potato improvement in the UK.

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In this report, Professor Giles Oldroyd gives an overview of the exciting work to develop the Crop Science Centre and establish it as one of the leading places in the world for plant research with a focus on improving the sustainability and equity of global food production.

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CUPGRA fellow Dr Sebastian Eves-van den Akker also provides an update on his work.

John Owen is undertaking a four-year CTP/CUPGRA sponsored PhD  investigating the control of aphid borne potato viruses.  The project aims to develop a novel ‘Push-Pull’ system for the potato crop.

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Stimulo-deterrent diversion or ‘push-pull’ as it is more commonly known, is a pest management strategy that utilises a variety of behaviour modifying cues, both visual and olfactory, to divert pest species away from their target (the ‘push’) and towards a trap area where they can be more easily controlled (the ‘pull’); this has proved an effective control method for medical, veterinary and crop pests.  In crop protection, strategies include the use of intercropping and the application of essential oils that actively deter pests or mask crop plant olfactory cues, the application of mulches to obscure visual cues and visually attractive crop borders.

Several potential components for a ‘push-pull’ system to control aphid pests have been explored for potato crops, yet no robust system has been developed, and certainly not one that provides sufficient virus protection to the levels required for seed crop production.  This project aims to address this.  Over the next four years, the project will look at potential push-pull elements, starting with laboratory and glasshouse studies, before refining the approach under field conditions.  The goal is to produce a workable system for both seed and ware crops.  The push-pull approach has a lot of potential, particularly for the control of non-persistent viruses, which are spread before insecticides can act against the vector.