Eyerusalem Morka

Winter oilseed rape is the most economically important oil crop in the UK. However, despite it being well adapted to the UK environment there is a need to improve its stability in response to increasingly unpredictable weather conditions. The availability of germplasm that offers high genetic variation is crucial to characterise traits such as vigour, flowering, biochemical composition, resistance to CSFB for use in crop improvement.

To address this, Eyerusalem is working on a project which focuses on creating a multiparent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) population. This project will develop recombinant inbred lines (RILs) that are a mosaic of eight founder parents, providing a powerful resource to identify and analyse the genetic basis of complex traits.

Prior to this, she worked on ex situ plant genetic resource conservation and studied the root exudate profiles of pea genotypes in response to pea root-rot infection as part of her MSc research project in Plant Conservation and Genetic Resources.