PhD Studentship - FSE PhD President's Doctoral Scholarship - The Role of Adaptive Evolution in the Microbial Sensing of Anthropogenic Molecules

This 4-year PhD studentship is open to both Home (UK) and international applicants. The successful candidate will receive an annual stipend at the UKRI minimum rate (currently £21,805 per year) plus £1,000/annum enhancement, and a research training support grant of up to £20,000 for the full 4-year programme. This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually, the projects that receives the best applicants will be successful.

Introduction. There is now a realisation both in the public and scientific communities that discarded plastic materials present a growing hazard to the natural environment and human health across the globe. Here, a major concern is the release of molecular breakdown products that alter the biochemistry of the exposed organisms. Since microbial life is abundant in the natural environment, it is hypothesised that they will be the most significantly impacted by any such effects. However, it remains unclear as to how microbes sense the presence of such molecules, and whether they could be adapting their behaviour or evolving to enable the detection of these compounds.

Aims, Objectives and Methods. This project aims to investigate the biochemical and genetic changes that occur to these microbes upon exposure to various small molecule degradants of plastics. The technical objectives are thus the: (1) culturing of microbes in the presence of these compounds and the profiling of their growth behaviour; (2) transcriptomic analysis to identify which genes have been expressed; (3) proteomic DNA-binding analysis (e.g. reverse-ChIP) to identify the proteins that bind to the regulatory regions of differentially expressed genes (i.e. the transcription factors that are performing the molecular sensing of these compounds); and (4) validation of transcription factor function in a model microbe (E. coli).

For further details see here.

Before you apply: Please contact the main project supervisor, Dr Wong, to learn more about the project and discuss whether it may be suitable for you.

To be considered for this project you must submit a formal application through our online application portal by following the instructions provided here. Please note that you must select programme FSE PhD President’s Doctoral Scholarship:

If you already have an applicant account, use this link to open an application for FSE PhD President's Doctoral Scholarship. If you do not yet have an applicantaccount, follow the account setup instructions and then use this link to open an application for the correct programme.

When applying, please specify the full title and supervisor/s of the project, details of your previous study, and names and contact details of two referees. You must also upload a Supporting Statement describing your motivation to apply to the project, your CV and transcripts of awarded and in-progress university qualifications. Please note late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, at least an upper second-class undergraduate honours degree (2:1), or an equivalent qualification, in microbiology, genetics, molecular biology (or other relevant subject). Research experience in bacterial microbiology or bacterial genetics is desirable.

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