Ronja Wonneberger

I am a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), where I have been working since 2023 in the research group of Therése Bengtsson. My research journey has taken me through several international research environments, shaping a broad and interdisciplinary perspective on crop improvement. Before joining SLU, I worked as a barley geneticist at the James Hutton Institute, following postdoctoral research at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Germany. I completed my PhD at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

With a background in plant pathology, my research has gradually expanded to encompass a wide range of traits relevant to breeding resilient crops. Today, I work at the intersection of genetics, pre-breeding, and plant health, combining genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics with phenotyping and hands-on laboratory and field work. This integrative approach allows me to bridge bioinformatics with practical experimentation.

My motivation is to contribute to the development of crop varieties that can withstand the challenges posed by climate change, pests, diseases, and other emerging threats. Through my work, I aim to support resilient and sustainable crop production both in the Nordic region and worldwide.

Currently, I am involved in the following projects: 

Identification of genes conferring resistance to bird cherry-oat aphid in Hordeum spontaneum. This project aims to identify the gene or genes underlying a locus that confers partial resistance to the bird cherry-oat aphid in Hordeum spontaneum, using a combination of genomic and transcriptomic analyses and gene-editing approaches (CRISPR). This project is financed by FORMAS. Project leader

CResWheat- Pre-breeding for Nordic climate resilient spring wheat. The main objective is to support the breeding of climate-resilient spring wheat by identifying genetic resources, genes and markers associated with disease resistance, drought tolerance and important adaptive traits for the Nordic region. A public-private partnership (PPP) funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and in-kind from project partners. Participating researcher

Back to the future, from landraces to high-yielding, heat and drought-tolerant barley preferred by East African farmers. The project aims to deliver high-yielding, climate change resilient, fit-for-purpose Ethiopian barley, meeting the demands of both men and women farmers. This project is financed by Vetenskapsrådet. WP co-leader

From Stench to Scent-Genetic strategies towards bunt-free organic wheat. This project addresses urgent challenges posed by common bunt in organic wheat production. We aim to identify virulence patterns present in Swedish isolates, elucidate the genes and structural changes involved in early defence responses and identify resistant genetic resources and genetic regions. This project is funded by the LTV faculty, the Department of Plant Breeding and the SLU Breeding Network. Co-supervisor/WP Co-leader

Student supervision:

2024-ongoing, Co-supervisor, PhD project. Student: Laurène Mailhan, "From Stench to Scent- Genetic strategies towards bunt-free organic wheat". Postgraduate student, Alnarp, SLU

2025-ongoing, Co-supervisor, MSc project. Student: Matilda Travesset, project on net blotch resistance in spring barley. Alnarp, SLU

2024-2025, Co-supervisor, Mc project. Student: Matilda Travesset, project on yellow rust resistance in Nordic spring wheat, part of CResWheat project. Alnarp, SLU

2019-2020, Co-supervisor, MSc project. Student: Jayavardhan Reddy Kunam, "Genomewide association studies of different spike traits and grain traits in a population of European two-rowed spring barleys", part of the "Barley yield-associated networks" project. IPK Gatersleben/Göttingen University, Germany.

Wonneberger, R., D’Auria, J. C., Neumann, K., Hansen, P. B., Dieseth, J. A., Nielsen, L. K., Niemelä, T., Odilbekov, F., Novakazi, F., Bengtsson, T., CResWheat Consortium (2025). Integrating metabolomics and high-throughput phenotyping to elucidate metabolic and phenotypic responses to early-season drought stress in Nordic spring wheat. BMC Plant Biology 25 (987). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-025-06914-y 

Guo, W., …, Wonneberger, R., …, R., Waugh, R. (2025). A barley pan-transcriptome reveals layers of genotype-dependent transcriptional complexity. Nature Genetics 57, 441–450. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-02069-y 

Schreiber, M.*, Wonneberger, R.,* Haaning, A.*, Coulter, M., Himmelbach, A., Fiebig, Muehlbauer, G. J., Stein, N., Waugh, R. (2024). Genomic resources for a historical collection of cultivated two-row European spring barley genotypes. Scientific Data, 11 (66). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02850-4 * shared first authorship

Wonneberger, R.*, Schreiber, M.*, Haaning, A.*, Muehlbauer, G. J., Waugh, R., Stein, N. (2023). Major chromosome 5H haplotype switch structures the European two-rowed spring barley germplasm of the past 190 years. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 136 (174). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04418-7 * shared first authorship

Coulter, M., …,  Wonneberger, R., …,  Zhang, R. (2022). BaRTv2: a highly resolved barley reference transcriptome for accurate transcript-specific RNA-seq quantification. The Plant Journal (111) 4: 1183-1202. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15871 

Wonneberger, R., Ficke, A., Lillemo, M. (2017). Identification of quantitative trait loci associated with resistance to net form net blotch in a collection of Nordic barley germplasm. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 130 (10): 2025-2043. 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-017-2940-2 

Wonneberger, R., Ficke, A., Lillemo, M. (2017). Mapping of quantitative trait loci associated with resistance to net form net blotch (Pyrenophora teres f. teres) in a doubled haploid Norwegian barley population. PLoS ONE 12 (4): e0175773. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175773