Joint Graduate School in Plant and Food Science
Breeding and genetics
Find below a description of our research in this area, and a list of potential supervisers.
About our research in breeding and genetics
Plant & Food Research has extensive experience in breeding new fruit, vegetable, arable and ornamental crops with novel characteristics that appeal to the consumer - such as flavour, texture, colour and health properties - or producer - including higher yield, pest and disease resistance, seasonality and storage potential. Breeders use conventional breeding techniques to create new cultivars, using knowledge of the genetics and gene mapping of key traits to inform and speed up the breeding process.
At The University of Auckland work has concentrated on the development of new floriculture varieties by the incorporation of genes and genomes of wild relatives of the flower crops. Both genetic and cytogenetic techniques have proved valuable for the identification of potential species for hybridization and a wide variety of new cultivars have been developed in association with commercial plant breeders.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss graduate research opportunities in more detail, please email jgs-auckland@plantandfood.co.nz
Professor Andrew Allan
Plant & Food Research
The University of Auckland, School of Biological Sciences
Areas of supervision:
- New Kiwifruit colours - the transcriptional regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants
- Comparative genomics of apple, strawberry and peach
- Environmental over-rides on anthocyanin synthesis
- Transcription factors controlling phenylpropanoid branch points
Dr Ross Atkinson
Plant & Food Research
Areas of supervision:
- Characterisation of flavour and aroma genes in plants
- Molecular biology of fruit development and ripening
- Physiology and biochemistry of fruit cell walls
- Overexpression of genes in plants and E.coli (biofermentation) for high throughput functional analysis
- Fruit allergens
Dr William Laing
Plant & Food Research
Areas of supervision:
- Plant metabolism and its control, especially ascorbate biosynthesis
- Nutrigenomics, or gene specific food including mouse models and proteomics approaches
- Plant genomics and transcription factor identification
- Identification of genes that encode enzymes important in metabolism
Dr Robin MacDiarmid
Plant & Food Research
University of Auckland, School of Biological Sciences
Areas of supervision:
- Antiviral mechanisms of plants
- Detection, identification and impact of plant viruses (e.g. generic detection methods, next generation sequencing, and drought tolerance or heat tolerance)
- Signal cross-talk in plant stress responses (e.g. intersection of bacterial, viral and abiotic stress responses)
- Methods to manage viruses (e.g. mild strain cross-protection, identification of resistance genes)
- Identification, impact and management of viruses of bees and other insects important to horticulture
