Postdoctoral position available in the Department of Genetics, Stellenbosch University (20 May 2013)
A postdoctoral position is available in the Molecular Plant and Animal Research Group, Department of Genetics, Stellenbosch University with the focus on "Association mapping in Potato for advancement of Marker Assisted Selection for specifically Potato Virus Y disease resistance in South Africa". This project is a collaborative effort with Agrocorp and Tubertek South Africa.
Breeding for enhanced cultivars in potato is a necessary, but time consuming process encumbered by the polyploid, heterozygous, non-inbred and clonal nature of the crop. With the sequencing and publishing of the potato genome in 2011 and associated marker development [mainly of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers] the potential for molecular breeding in the crop has been enhanced. The development of an 8300 SNP array with genome-wide marker coverage attests to this.
Disease resistance is one of the main breeding aims for many crops, as it is for potatoes. The nature of this resistance can vary from simple, Mendelian, single gene, vertical resistance to more complex, multi-gene (quantitative traits), horizontal resistance. Although work has been done on many single genes, quantitative trait loci (QTL) work is a laborious process, which in the past mainly relied on the creation of segregating mapping families. Quantitative variation is however proposed to be a more durable form of resistance as is has been shown that pathogens could potentially more easily overcome single gene resistance.
During the past decade, association mapping, commonly applied in human- and livestock genetics, has shown greater promise and power for the genomic mapping of complex quantitative traits in plants as compared to traditional linkage mapping.
It is the aim of this study to combine the potential and power of association mapping to identify genetic markers (SNPs) showing association with phenotypic variance mostly related to disease traits (specifically to potato virus Y) in order to expedite the process of marker assisted selection in this species for growth under South African conditions. To this effect we will make use of the recently published and developed genome sequence and SNP Infinium array developed by the SOLCAP community.
The successful candidate will primarily be responsible for:
1) Phenotypic evaluations, SNP data analysis and association mapping of potato cultivars in terms of Potato Virus Y resistance.
2) Identifying a set of markers associated with PVY resistance (known and novel QTL).
3) Development of robust marker assay to test for associated phenotypes in South African cultivars.
4) Advancement of marker assisted breeding of PVY resistance in South African potato breeding.
Minimum requirements:
PhD with specialization in association mapping or any closely related discipline. Candidates should have proficiency in the relevant software packages, and experience with handling and analysing large scale SNP data. Experience within the field of potato genetics in general and potato virus studies in particular would serve as a strong recommendation. The ideal candidate should also have proven project management experience and ability to set deadlines and meet milestones.
This position is available for 3 years and commencement of duties is set for September 2013.
Interested researchers are requested to send their CV including details of at least 2 references to Prof. Rouvay Roodt-Wilding at roodt from sun.ac.za<mailto:roodt from sun.ac.za>
Closing date: 10 June 2013
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