Student: Nigel Muchiwanga 

Industrial Partner: AB InBev

Industrial supervisor: Tanya Henderson

Academic Partner: University of Nottingham

Academic Supervisor: David Cook

Key malt processing quality parameters, like the starch gelatinization temperature, vary with barley variety and harvest year. More knowledge is required regarding the relative significance of genotype, environment and crop management practices in determining starch properties.  This project will be conducted in partnership with AB InBev, the world’s largest brewing company, who manufacture one in four of all beers consumed worldwide. There will be an opportunity to gain valuable industry experience during a placement within a Technical Division of AB InBev.

In Year 1, several lines will be grown across two distinct sites to generate samples for initial characterization, training in the required techniques and to provide an initial snapshot of the significance of genotype. In subsequent years selected varieties will be grown in multiple sites both within the UK and globally under controlled conditions selected to evaluate the separate impacts of environment and crop management practices. Barley samples will be micromalted and characterized for significant parameters related to starch breakdown during mashing, including: nitrogen content, a- and b-amylase activities, starch content, amylose to amylopectin ratio. Thermal properties of the starches will be determined using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Rapid Visco Analysis (RVA). Malts will be mashed using industry standard protocols and the resulting wort extract and fermentable sugars spectrum determined. Statistical analyses will determine the relative impacts of genotype, site and management practices on starch properties and function.  Desirable traits and practices linked to best performance in brewing will be identified.

Student: Christy Smith

Industrial Partner: Limagrain

Industrial supervisor: Clara Simon

Academic Partner: University of Nottingham

Academic Supervisor: David Cook

Malting is one of the oldest biotechnologies, but urgently requires innovative approaches to reduce energy and water consumption to deliver long-term sustainability.  Steeping is the first step in the malting process and is where the barley grains are submersed in water to increase the moisture content of grains homogeneously and trigger germination. Steeping also acts to clean the grain and remove germination inhibitors.  Steeping normally entails using successive wet (under water) and dry stands (‘air rests’), which ensure the grain does not ‘drown’ from continuous immersion, improves germinative vigour and the rate of water uptake overall. Two or three wet steep cycles are commonly employed, which contribute significantly to the maltings water usage (typically 2.5-6 m³/tonne).  Each steep utilises around 0.8 m³/tonne (conical bottomed or Eco-steep vessels) or 1.3 m³/tonne (flat bottomed vessels). Thus, the industry is looking towards technologies, raw materials and processes which enable more water efficient steep processes using fewer steeps. Examples of this include the use of ‘pre-steep’ processes in washing screws (0.3 m³/tonne) followed by one ‘main’ steep, or the recently developed ‘Optisteep’ technology. The latter continuously circulates steep water through a 2-stage water purification and oxidation process which enables a faster and continuous 1-wet steep. 

We hypothesise that malting barley varieties will react differently under these novel conditions as plant breeders will not have been selecting lines to meet these new criteria.  The aim of this project is to identify the best performing lines in these new steeping regimes and to identify genetic markers that can differentiate good and bad performing lines.  To achieve this goal, the project will use a diversity panel, comprising mainly spring barley lines, to identify these key loci using genome-wide association studies.  The final panel will comprise both old and new varieties and will be selected from a larger set of material that has been assessed for its germination index following steeping.   The screen will allow for an investigation of the physiological and genetic characteristics that enable barley lines to germinate homogeneously under these differing water regimes and whether the result of these selection pressures would have positive or negative effects on agronomic performance.  The project will be able to investigate whether known QTL for germinative energy, identified in the IMPROMALT project, explain some of the genetic variation or that novel loci are important for this new malting environment.

Student: Pippa Wan

Industrial Partner: Scotch Whisky Research Institute

Industrial supervisor: Paulina Oroko

Academic Partner: SRUC and University of Dundee

Academic Supervisors: Neil Havis and Ingo Hein

Across the cereals sector, there is much interest in grain health and the presence of seed borne pathogens, especially in barley for malting. One of the major economic barley diseases in Scotland is Ramularia leaf spot (RLS), caused by the dothidiomycete fungus, Ramularia collo-cygni . This fungus has been shown to reduce grain yield and quality. It also has a seed borne stage in its life cycle. This BARIToNE PhD project builds on previous research by investigating (1) the effect of R. collo-cygni presence in harvested grain on malting and sprit (2) utilising previous genome wide analysis, which identified candidate gene regions associated with field resistance, we will genetically dissect this region using multi-parent populations developed from landraces and an elite cultivar (3) the potential for these crosses to display increased resistance to the pathogen will be validated in controlled condition and field experiments. The project relates strongly to the reduced input theme as RLS control relies on fungicide sprays just before head emergence.  To address these three objectives, the project will combine biochemistry, genetics, genomics and field phenotyping in the following experimental approaches:

Biochemical approaches.  Micromalting of infected samples to determine malt quality (predicted spirit yield), diastatic power and wort viscosity in grain samples with varying levels of Rcc (including some lines with enhanced tolerance/resistance) . Then alcohol yield, congener profile and flavour profile of spirit produced from that malt. This will provide robust evidence on the impact of the fungus on product quality and also the impact of breeding for resistance on grain quality.

Genetics and genomic approaches. A recent genome wide association analysis has highlighted candidate genes on the barley chromosomes which are associated with disease resistance in field experiments. An analysis will be conducted on a wider panel of genotypes including landrace accessions from a legacy collection, to identify genotypes which carry the candidate genes and develop novel germplasm for validation in controlled and field studies.

Field disease phenotyping and validation approaches.  i) Testing predicted resistance. The levels of resistance in the panel of genotypes analysed in part 2 will be tested in controlled conditions and field experiments to determine levels of resistance to symptom expression. ii) Resistant and susceptible lines will be tested for levels of apoplastic leakage and cuticle thickness to determine their potential influence on disease levels.

Throughout the research programme, the student will have opportunity to engage with broader strategic research on crop health and improvement.

Student: Sophie Blenkinsopp

Industrial Partner: Chivas Brothers

Industrial supervisor: Richard Allan

Academic Partner: SRUC and University of Dundee

Academic Supervisors: Steve Hoad, Alex Morell

Climate change and society’s reaction to it will, both directly and indirectly, push agricultural production to have to function in increasingly marginal conditions. We need to utilise the crop diversity available to generate the improved crop varieties that will be adapted to these marginal conditions while at the same time mitigating climate change by reducing N inputs. Understanding the yield architecture under reduced inputs (nitrogen and water) will be key to the future breeding of such varieties and to managing both nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. The genetic control of nitrogen uptake and utilisation will underpin the realised NUE and resilience to abiotic stress, such as variation in water availability, will be key to adaptation.

This project will quantify a range of above and below ground traits associated with climate change mitigation and adaptation, in relevant populations of barley. This study will therefore include detailed dissection of yield architecture and partition of nitrogen as well as an overview of root system architecture.

There are a number of barley populations that are available to the project, but the focus will begin on a Nested Association Mapping (NAM) population produced by KWS using 12 donor parents including barley landraces from a range of environments with a range of inherent stress. This population has been extensively genotyped and a working population of 89 lines has been selected from 352 lines. Importantly previous field trialling has already indicated that this subset includes introgressions from the landrace/older varietal parents that have a beneficial effect on yield and yield stability over a range of environments. Initial research will focus on this core set of lines and derived material.

In the preliminary experiments the candidate will subject the NAM population to a range of reduced N and variable water availability treatments (field or CE?). Data will be used to derive QTLs for tolerance to reduced N inputs, water stress and a combination of both stresses and their association with a range of developmental and morphological traits. These initial studies will guide subsequent experimentation that will include glasshouse and field phenotyping and molecular physiological studies. The PhD candidate will have the opportunity to develop the project further in the direction of genetics/genomics, plant physiology and nitrogen use and will have the opportunity to work closely with scientists and breeders in KWS, the commercial partner.

Student: Happison Chikova

Industrial Partner: Chivas Brothers

Industrial supervisor: Ronald Daalmans

Academic Partner: James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee

Academic Supervisor: Jagadeesh Yeluripati, Frances Sandison and John Rowan

In November 2018, the Committee on Climate Change reported that ‘fundamental reform is required to ensure that land becomes a more effective carbon store’ (CCC, 2018), and suggested land use policy must promote radically different uses of UK land to support deeper emissions reductions. Existing carbon trading or payment mechanisms have highlighted the enormous potential for economic levers to deliver Net Zero. Progress made in GHG mitigation and carbon sequestration in agriculture and land use sector is very slow and faces challenges technically due to lack of scalable alternate processes and economically lack of viable customised business models suited for local conditions. 

Robust knowledge and tools are needed for policymakers and farmers to ensure future sustainable management of soils, and production of agricultural commodities to meet Net Zero goals. There is a need for credible and reliable measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) platforms, for national reporting, emissions trading and to track progress towards Net Zero, as well as transparency and understanding of GHG emissions along the entirety of product supply chains.  

The PhD student is expected to upscale technology developed in RETINA project by dealing with various stakeholders ranging from farmers to private and public sector stakeholders. The student is expected to undertake a case study on the Whisky supply chain, to create carbon footprint models to identify hotspots, potential improvements and viable business models for carbon farming and trading. This PhD will characterize the elements of successful business models, identify market failures, and outline a range of challenges to be overcome to build a commercial case for the private sector for viable carbon trading. The student will build on existing strengths within Hutton developed with recent success (2 million investment). This includes the NERC-RETINA project, which developed a functional digital MVR prototype by combining information from field-based sensors, remote sensing, smartphone apps and integration of models to confirm management practice effectiveness on soil carbon and GHG reductions, and the EU-SENSE project.

The project provides excellent opportunities for training in multi-disciplinary skills and techniques spanning agroecology, biogeochemical modelling, statistical analysis, training in High performance computing and knowledge translation that will be highly attractive to future employers. The project will suit candidates with an agriculture/agroecology background interested in working with stakeholders to solve sustainability challenges facing the barley industry. Placements at Chivas Brothers will provide invaluable insights into the practicalities of processing grain for malt and spirits, and an important link to barley growers supplying the whisky industry. 

Student: Kira Lutter

Industrial Partner: Glenmorangie

Industrial supervisor: Gillian MacDonald

Academic Partners: James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee

Academic Supervisors: Eric Paterson, Roy Neilson, Davide Bulgarelli

The Climate Emergency demands that innovative and effective mitigations are urgently developed to achieve a just transition to Net Zero. There is an increasing focus on how this can be tackled in the agricultural sector, while still maintaining production for a growing global population. This project, co-developed by academic and industry partners, will explore the potential for reducing the environmental impact of barley cultivation for the whisky industry.

Whisky is the single most valuable Food and Drink product in the UK (£5.5Bn in 2020), but the barley cultivation stage contributes approximately 50% of the carbon footprint associated with each bottle produced. In large part, this is a consequence of chemical fertiliser use (both energy costs of manufacture and GHG fluxes from soil following application). Therefore, strategies to reduce use of chemical fertilisers, while maintaining sustainable grain production are urgently needed.

The use of distillery wastes for energy production (biogas) through anaerobic digestion (AD) is already an established means of off-setting carbon costs of whisky manufacture. However, AD itself generates wastes with high-nutrient content (digestates) that have potentially deleterious environmental impacts (e.g. effluent discharges affecting water quality). Therefore, the specific aim of this project is to examine the potential value of AD wastes for use as fertiliser replacements, exploiting their high-nutrient value in barley cultivation and supporting circular economy principles through diversion from waste streams. The research will involve controlled environment and field trials to assess the fertiliser equivalence of AD wastes, quantifying growth and grain quality of malting barley, relative to chemical fertilisers. It is essential that impacts of AD wastes on soil health are neutral or positive, and the project will quantify effects of their application on soil biological diversity and functions. This will include isotopic approaches to quantify carbon and nutrient cycling processes in soils (including GHG fluxes and nutrient leaching), combined with molecular characterisation of microbial /faunal communities to determine associated impacts of AD waste application. Based on results obtained, formulations (e.g., AD effluent in combination with biochar generated from solid waste fractions) will be explored to optimise barley production and to foster long-term sustainability of soil ecosystem services in malting barley production systems.

Student: Milos Micik

Industrial Partner: James Hutton Ltd

Industrial supervisor: Jonathan Snape

Academic Partners: James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee

Academic Supervisors: Runxuan Zhang, Sarah McKim, Fraser Macfarlane and Ping Lin

Supervised deep learning networks and segmentation algorithms, developed in Prof Lin’s lab, have been successfully applied in dentistry to segment dental scan images, identify tooth types, and measure surgical outcomes using 3D models. We aim to leverage methods, tools, and expertise in Lin’s lab to

1. In the controlled environment, e.g. using the image station at APGC,
2. Construct accurate 2D and 3D models for single or a small number of plants using images taken from multiple viewing angles.
3. Using these models, develop machine learning based automatic systems that allows the detection of different components of the plants, such as leaf, stem, flower, seeds, etc and
4. provide accurate measurements for a list of comprehensive plant traits such as plant height, leaf size, canopy size and maturation time and derived measures such as seed weights, etc.

• Using the drone images and images captured by new robot from JHL, we will improve the algorithms developed for “real life” field condition,  field conditions.

Initially the technology will be developed using barley plants as a model, but the algorithm would be generally applicable to other plants. The proposed system will allow more accurate phenotyping with increased resolution and significantly reduced labour costs. This technology will greatly accelerate and enhance breeding of improved crops with beneficial architectural and physiological traits.

Student: Shanzay Qamar

Industrial partner: Scotch WHisky Research Institute

Industry Supervisor: Nicholas Pitts

Academic partners: James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee

Academic supervisors: Craig Simpson, Laurence Ducreux, Pete Hedley, Piers Hemsley

GE or precision breeding is a remarkable new tool that is fundamentally different from established conventional breeding and GM methods. Gene-editing edits the target gene directly and precisely within the genome of an elite crop line with no additional genetic material and no increase in gene number. A better understanding of gene editing tools is vitally important to support production of cereal yield, with fewer inputs in the face of a changing climate. This is a 4-year studentship that will allow you to explore and develop cutting-edge GE methods with the opportunity to adapt and develop your own methods of creating new edited changes. Changes will be made in barley that is relevant worldwide to food and drink security. GE is usually used to induce a gene mutation that knocks out the function of the targeted gene with the associated crop benefit. The aim of your studentship will be to select important gene targets, develop different GE methods and develop different methods of delivering the GE machinery to the plant cell allowing for the potential of GE to be fully realised. We have established genomic and transcriptomic datasets that will help select important gene targets.

Student: James Grieves

Industrial partner: Diageo

Industry supervisor: Katherine Smart

Academic partners: James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee

Academic supervisors: Tracy Valentine and Davide Bulgarelli

Agriculture is under enormous pressure to increase crop yield and quality for food, feed and other products, while reducing its’ carbon footprint. The James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee offer a 4-year fully funded PhD studentship to determine barley traits adapted to sustainable crop production. This research project will be conducted in partnership with Diageo and will offer the opportunity to undertake an extra industrially relevant qualification, alongside valuable industrial experience during a hosted placement within a Technical Division of Diageo.  Barley is a critical crop for the brewing and distilling industry where Diageo is a leading player in the food & drinks sector.  Barley is also an important component of animal feed.

While high-yielding varieties selected to maximise their responses to non-renewable inputs, intense soil management and monoculture have guaranteed profitable yields over the past 60 years, it is now clear that their environmental impact will be unsustainable in 21st century agriculture. Conceptually novel varieties, tailored to the so called low-carbon agronomy are therefore needed to ensure global food security. Chief in achieving this ambitious objective will be identifying genetically determined traits, underpinning barley’s adaptation to the soil environment.  We hypothesis that root traits (e.g. architecture, hairs & exudates) are associated with adaptation to low carbon systems (e.g.no-tillage) and plants’ responses are integrally linked in a feedback loop to soil characteristics (e.g. microbiota) and soil resources  (e.g. nitrogen, soil carbon)

  Research will start with literature reviews (incl. meta-analysis), to extract barley genotypes and germplasm with differential responses to tillage in different soils, potential root traits of interest, soil impacts (inc. soil history, environment/climate etc.), and methodologies for rapid screens (Obj1).  Rapid variety screens will calibrate traits against key soil physical and health traits (e.g. structure, sand/loam composition, nutrient levels) using traditional and imaging technologies (Obj2). These will be followed by plot field trials under differential tillage conditions (Obj3). While, this project will focus on plant traits, soil health characteristics and soil structure will be investigated (e.g. via the Soil Health Card system, water, soil strength & structure, C & N ).  Genetic indicators of traits and effects on soil microbiome will be achieved through comparative genomics, metagenomic and transcriptomics profiles of adapted lines and rhizosphere where appropriate (Obj4).  

The outcome will be identification of barley traits associated with soil tillage adaptation and their impact on productivity and soil health under low carbon production agronomy which will be valuable for barley breeding and agronomic advice.

Student: Ruth Taylor

Industrial partner: Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS)

Industrial Supervisor: Jim Booth

Academic partner: University of Dundee

Academic Supervisor: Morris Altman

The focus of this project is researching the role agricultural co-ops (member-owned organizations) play in driving change in their networks with a focus on helping their farmer members address the climate challenge.  Education and effective knowledge transfer are a key pillar and one of the seven principles of co-operation in co-op enterprises. 

SAOS believe addressing the climate emergency is too large a challenge for any one business to tackle alone, especially SMEs. And that Scotland’s strong agricultural co-ops can be an effective solution to coordinating meaningful change whilst remaining competitive via highly effective co-op farmer member networks.

The co-op model presents a huge opportunity to support farmers address barriers such as limited time and capital, technical change, and information asymmetries. Action to deliver both economic and environmental gains become progressively more difficult as the industry advances through ‘easy wins’ and lower cost solutions. This highlights the value of a more collaborative approach between farmers, to support for example, the adoption and development of new technology or commitment to more capital-intensive investments.  Arguably one of the key roles co-ops provide is the leadership to facilitate and actualize change. For example, the investment by Aberdeen Grain in large-scale biomass driers to decarbon the drying of malting barley grain. 

That said, the co-op business model is not well understood in Scotland or the wider UK, despite their long history as a business model, founded in the principles of mutual support, democracy and shared economic benefits. Apart from the commercial returns from being a member, co-ops seek to build social capital and enhance skills that can be vital in building resilience and strengthening rural communities, whilst remaining competitive.  

Student: Emily Lyon

Industrial partner: Syngenta

Industry supervisor: Hazel Bull

Academic partners: James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee

Academic supervisors: Luke Ramsay and Martin Balcerowicz

Due to climate change the variability in annual weather patterns is increasing.  In the 2020/21 growing season average UK spring temperatures were high, outside the 30-year range and in the 2021/22 harvest record summer temperatures were recorded. Climate models suggest these fluctuations and extremes are likely to continue and indeed worsen.  There is a clear impact of these environmental stresses on crop yield and yield components, but also on malting quality. Malting is an industrial process and relies on an intake of a uniform quality barley crop for efficient and homogenous processing. These fluctuations in climate present a significant challenge to the malting industry and the barley supply chain.  However, there is evidence that the malting quality of some barley varieties appears to be more robust to climate variation than others. This indicates that there is the opportunity to breed barley varieties that retain malting quality across a range of future climate scenarios. 

In this project we will investigate the impact of climate variation on malting quality by focussing on a range of barley germplasm that could provide the material to underpin the development of future breeding material to enhance resilience of malting quality to climatic variation.  This will involve detailed studies of the effect of environmental heat stress during plant and grain development on malting quality.  This project will use controlled environment and glasshouse work, and field trials in a combined physiological/genetic study to identify the traits that confer climatic robustness and the genetic variants that control them.  Importantly this investigation will dissect the effect on malting quality using the IBH micromalting lab on the JHI site. This malting work will focus on the known complex interactions of malting quality with environment and genetic background whilst concentrating on elite material with desirable malting quality.  This aspect of the project includes the opportunity for more detailed studies into the effect of climatic variables on deposition of starch and other polysaccharides in the grain, and the subsequent impact on malting quality.  The project benefits from the close collaboration of Syngenta and JHI, and will ultimately allow the identification of traits/alleles which could be introduced into future breeding material to enhance resilience of malting quality to climatic variation.