Adaptation of cutting-edge photonic tools to understand food spoilage biology

植物角质层和下表皮构成了保护植物免受干燥和非生物和生物胁迫的最外层。角质层主要由聚酯角质层和表皮蜡组成，有助于防止水分流失和维持细胞膨胀。在水果成熟过程中，表面特性的变化通过“开花”和颜色变化在增加消费者吸引力方面发挥着重要作用。重要的是，角质层和表皮形成了一道机械屏障，作为抵御植物病原体入侵的第一道防线。英国樱桃和李子的主要水果病原体是一种真菌病原体，Monilinia laxa，引起褐腐病。果实随着成熟而越来越容易受到这种病原体的影响；健康水果采前感染不会导致视觉腐烂，但会形成潜伏感染，并在采后发展为腐烂。这种与年龄相关的易感性可能与皮肤成熟时的形态特征有关。了解这种关系不仅提供了基本的生物学知识，而且有助于制定有效的疾病管理策略。博士研究生将结合光学相干断层扫描和数字全息成像的原理，开发基于干涉的新型非侵入性高分辨率显微镜技术，以帮助我们更好地理解水果表面特性的变化，这些变化在发育和成熟过程中增加了对病原体攻击的敏感性。这些技术将允许非破坏性的纵向研究，并将提供结构和功能信息的混合。这个令人兴奋的学生将会看到学生从事生物研究和工程，特别适合那些在跨学科环境中工作的学生。

Plant cuticle and underlying epidermis form the outermost layer protecting plants from desiccation and from abiotic and biotic stresses. The cuticle is comprised mainly of polyester cutin and epicuticular waxes that help to prevent moisture loss and maintenance of cell turgor. In fruits, changes in surface properties play an important role in increasing consumer appeal during maturation through development of 'blooms' and colour changes. Importantly, the cuticle and epidermis form a mechanical barrier acting as the first-line of defence against the ingress from plant pathogens. A key fruit pathogen in UK cherry and plum is a fungal pathogen, Monilinia laxa, causing brown rot. Fruit are increasingly susceptible to the pathogen as they mature; pre-harvest infection of healthy fruit does not lead to visual rotting but establishes latent infection, which can develop into rotting post-harvest. This age-related susceptibility is likely to be associated with skin morphological characteristics as they mature. Understanding such a relationship not only provides fundamental biological knowledge but also assists in the development of effective disease management strategies. The PhD studentship will combine principles of optical coherence tomography and digital holography to develop novel non-invasive high resolution microscopy technologies based on interference to help improve our understanding of the changes in fruit surface properties that increase susceptibility to pathogen attack during development and ripening. These techniques will allow non-destructive longitudinal studies, and will provide a mix of structural and functional information. This exciting studentship will see the student engage with both biological research and engineering, and would particularly suit a student who is comfortable working in an interdisciplinary environment.