
Dr Judith Rathjen
Research Officer
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
I have been working as a research in rhizobiology since 2018 in Matt Denton's group. I have a strong interest in compatibility of commonly used seed pesticides, fertilisers and trace elements with rhizobia, using microbiological and plant-based techniques. Other interests include the global diversity of rhizobia in countries without a history of inoculation and the N fixation efficiency of diverse strains.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2013 - ongoing Research Officer University of Adelaide -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title University of Adelaide Australia BAgSCI -
Postgraduate Training
Date Title Institution Country Role of the seed coat in the dormancy of wheat grains University of Adelaide Australia -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Riley, I. T., Ryder, M. H., Rathjen, J. R., Lai, T. V., & Denton, M. D. (2025). In vitro Assessment Indicates that Fertilizers Commonly Used in Legume Production Differentially Inhibit Commercial Rhizobial Strains. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 56(5), 687-700.
2025 Lai, T. V., Ryder, M. H., Rathjen, J. R., Riley, I. T., & Denton, M. D. (2025). Seed-applied micronutrient toxicity to rhizobia and impaired legume nodulation.. Journal of applied microbiology, 136(4), lxaf067.
2023 Rathjen, J. R., Zaw, M., Ryder, M. H., Zhou, Y., Lai, T. V., & Denton, M. D. (2023). Native soil origin influences the symbiotic N fixation effectiveness of chickpea mesorhizobia grown in Australian soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 60(1), 137-151.
Scopus22022 Zaw, M., Rathjen, J. R., Zhou, Y., Ryder, M. H., & Denton, M. D. (2022). Rhizobial diversity is associated with inoculation history at a two-continent scale.. FEMS microbiology ecology, 98(5), 1-14.
Scopus4 WoS1 Europe PMC22021 Lai, T. V., Ryder, M. H., Rathjen, J. R., Bolan, N. S., Croxford, A. E., & Denton, M. D. (2021). Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium increased with rising temperature. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 57(3), 363-372.
Scopus25 WoS82021 Zaw, M., Rathjen, J. R., Zhou, Y., Ryder, M. H., & Denton, M. D. (2021). Symbiotic effectiveness, ecological adaptation and phylogenetic diversity of chickpea rhizobia isolated from a large-scale Australian soil collection. Plant and Soil, 469(1-2), 49-71.
Scopus10 WoS22020 Rathjen, J. R., Ryder, M. H., Riley, I. T., Lai, T. V., & Denton, M. D. (2020). Impact of seed-applied pesticides on rhizobial survival and legume nodulation.. J Appl Microbiol, 129(2), 389-399.
Scopus15 WoS8 Europe PMC42018 Torabian, S., Farhangi-Abriz, S., & Rathjen, J. (2018). Biochar and lignite affect H⁺ -ATPase and H⁺ -PPase activities in root tonoplast and nutrient contents of mung bean under salt stress. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 129, 141-149.
Scopus64 WoS38 Europe PMC122017 Li, J., Harata-Lee, Y., Denton, M., Feng, Q., Rathjen, J., Qu, Z., & Adelson, D. (2017). Long read reference genome-free reconstruction of a full-length transcriptome from Astragalus membranaceus reveals transcript variants involved in bioactive compound biosynthesis. Cell Discovery, 3(1), 17031-1-17031-13.
Scopus85 WoS77 Europe PMC612009 Mares, D., Rathjen, J., Mrva, K., & Cheong, J. (2009). Genetic and environmental control of dormancy in white-grained wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Euphytica, 168(3), 311-318.
Scopus29 WoS232009 Rathjen, J., Strounina, E., & Mares, D. (2009). Water movement into dormant and non-dormant wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grains. Journal of Experimental Botany, 60(6), 1619-1631.
Scopus85 WoS62 Europe PMC27 -
Conference Papers
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Conference Items
Year Citation 2022 Rathjen, J., Zaw, M., Zhou, Y., Ryder, M., & Denton, M. (2022). Diversity and field symbiotic performance of Mesorhizobium strains collected across chickpea cropping areas of Australia and Myanmar. Poster session presented at the meeting of 18th Australian Nitrogen Fixation Conference 2022. Fremantle. 2020 Rathjen, J., Ryder, M., Lai, T., Riley, I., & Denton, M. (2020). Improving nodulation with seed-applied fungicides. Poster session presented at the meeting of SUNFix Symposium. 2017 Rathjen, J., Ryder, M., Riley, I., & Denton, M. (2017). Effect of seed-applied pesticides on the survival of Rhizobium leguminosarum and Mesorhizobium ciceri on legume seeds. Poster session presented at the meeting of SUNFix Symposium. -
Report for External Bodies
Year Citation 2022 Farquharson, E., Rathjen, J., Ballard, R., Barnett, S., Brand, J., Roberts, P., . . . Mckay, A. (2022). An overview of research advances to optimise inoculation, nodulation and nitrogen fixation of pulse crops in southern Australia.
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Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2017 - 2023 External Supervisor Symbiotic effectiveness, phylogenetic diversity and ecological adaptation of chickpea rhizobia isolated from Australian and Myanmar soils Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Myint Zaw -
Other Supervision Activities
Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name 2022 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Molecular analysis of genes involved in effectiveness of symbiosis between mesorhizobium and chickpea University of Adelaide - Master - Divyia Dharshini Chinnatamby
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Memberships
Date Role Membership Country 2001 - ongoing Member Crop Science Society of South Australia Australia
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