MR JACK HENDERSON

Biography

I am an EASTBIO DTP funded Environmental Microbiology PhD student and my research is focused on plant driven inhibition of nitrification - referred to as Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) - with the aim of developing more sustainable agriculture by preventing nitrogen loss. I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Bioscience with Biomedical Science in 2020 from Robert Gordon University. Following graduation, I joined the National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria (NCIMB) where I worked as a Molecular Microbiologist, specialising in pathogen handling.

Research Overview

The title of my PhD is 'Crop Production Sustainability Through the Microbial Lens'.

Nitrification is the microbial driven metabolism of reduced forms of reduced forms of nitrogen (e.g. Ammonium) into Nitrate, which leaches out of soil, leaving it nitrogen poor, and causes eutrophication of water sources. Nitrification also results in production of copious amounts of Nitrous Oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas, and is responsible for excessive nitrogen loss in agricultural systems. Excessive nitrogen loss necessitates high fertilisation, which in turn encourages nitrification. 

Several plants have evolved to inhibit nitrification via exudation of inhibitory molecules – this is termed biological nitrification inhibition (BNI). BNI enabled agriculture could increase sustainability while helping deliver global food security by decreasing synthetic nitrogen requirements. 

BNI has been demonstrated in several crops – including wheat, rice and maize – and there is the suggestion for strong BNI potential in barley. Barley is the most cultivated cereal crop in Scotland, and 4th most cultivated globally. 

My project is highly interdisciplinary - integrating Microbiology, Chemistry, and Plant Biology - and aims to determine the BNI efficiency of several barley lines and isolate novel BNI compounds, while analysing the impact of BNI on nitrifier community dynamics.