Aphids are of major economic and agricultural importance. Biocontrol strategies are increasingly using parasites and pathogens over chemical insecticides. However, aphid immune responses are poorly-studied. The last major investigation of aphid immunity used the Green pea aphid genome in 2010, finding this species had lost its Imd immune pathway (a striking result). It is unclear if this is true of other aphids, or how this might impact host-pathogen interactions. The interested PhD candidate will investigate the evolution of aphid immune systems using recently-sequenced genomes and infection experiments. With access to a living library of 110 sequenced aphid strains, the student can further investigate the principles of insect immune evolution in aphids, which have lost important immune pathways. The student can also study how variation in populations contributes to infection outcomes in this importance agricultural and economic insect. For more information, please see: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/award/?id=5191 Or contact Mark Hanson at mark.hanson@exeter.ac.uk Mark A. Hanson Wellcome Early Career fellow University of Exeter, Penryn campus Centre for Ecology and Conservation Stella Turk B046-003 Ph: 0 7380 517 086 "Hanson, Mark" (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)