Malick Mbengue (@malick-mbengue.bsky.social)

Postdoctoral position on the mechanisms involved in the variability of mycorrhizal responses in wheat. An 18-month postdoctoral position is available on a collaborative project between the research units "Laboratory of Plant-Microbe-Environment Interactions (LIPME)" and "Genetics, Diversity, and Ecophysiology of Cereals (GDEC)". The objective is to study 1) the impact of wheat genetics and plant nutritional status on the tripartite interaction between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), common wheat, and Zymoseptoria tritici, the pathogenic fungus responsible for septoria leaf blotch; 2) the potential trade-offs between resistance stimulation and growth stimulation by mycorrhiza; and 3) the underlying molecular mechanisms. Preliminary data showed that there is genetic variability in wheat for the stimulation by mycorrhiza of resistance to septoria leaf blotch and for mycorrhizal nutrition. The specificity of these responses will be tested using different strains of AMF and Z. tritici. The various factors (strains, plant genotype, and nutritional status) will be analysed under controlled conditions through a series of experiments, each combining some of these factors. The underlying molecular mechanisms will be studied using transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches on the most contrasting genotypes and conditions. You will be based at LIPME on the INRAE Toulouse campus in Auzeville-Tolosane. You will interact with the on-site genomics, metabolomics, and microscopy platforms. You will benefit from the expertise of the EFIS team (LIPME) on wheat mycorrhiza and you will be trained in phenotyping septoria leaf blotch under controlled conditions, by the IPM team (GDEC) at the INRAE Clermont-Ferrand campus. https://jobs.inrae.fr/en/ot-28865