Global Meteorological Simulator (GMS): For plant health and disease

Crop diseases, pests and global pollinator decline all pose a major threat to agricultural productivity and world food security. Thus, one of the key questions facing the scientific community and posed by government, industry, environmental and consumer bodies is "How can plant health be sustainably protected?" Plants have sophisticated mechanisms for sensing and adapting to changing environments and their interactions with pathogens, pests and pollinators are critically impacted by weather and climate. For example, the biophysical properties of water-leaf interactions impact the transmission of splash-dispersed fungal pathogens, wind and rain shape the fitness costs of pesticide resistance and pollinator success depends on floral humidity. We have identified a gap in the UK's capability to carry out research into plant health and disease that sits somewhere between the current portfolio of controlled environmental technologies and large field studies. The widely used plant growth chambers cannot accurately capture or control weather conditions like wind, rain and fog. By contrast, field studies face challenges with control and replication which is important for plant research. As a result of detailed discussions with a world leading designer and supplier of customised, controlled environments for plant research we propose to purchase a unique custom-built Global Meteorological Simulator (GMS) that has the potential to fundamentally change our approach to research across a wide BBSRC-facing remit. The GMS will enable the control of temperature, light, humidity and CO2, and will provide the novel features of rainfall, fog and wind control. The design will maximise the number of replicate experiments that can be carried out concurrently whilst maintaining large-scale experimental capability. The GMS brings together a gender-balanced team of investigators from a wide range of disciplines that includes Biosciences, Mathematics, the Medical School and Psychology and that span all career stages. The research projects will utilise the team's expertise in plant physiology, microbiology, applied entomology, neuroethology, computational biology and mathematical modelling to address important challenges of how environment and climate change affect: 1. Crop disease epidemiology, transmission, virulence and antimicrobial resistance 2. Plant growth, development and plant-pathogen interactions 3. Circadian rhythms and collective algal movement 4. Plant-pest interactions and pesticide resistance dynamics 5. Plant-pollinator interactions, multisensory behaviour and the spatial learning of pollinators. This will create potential for ground-breaking discoveries for plant heath. Moreover, the GMS will promote and expand interdisciplinary collaborations across the University of Exeter, the South-West region and importantly, with our industrial partners.