Stress responses and toxicology in yeast

This project is focused on understanding the effects of stress on cells, with emphasis on toxic metals, oxidants and drugs. We use the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an ideal eukaryotic model to characterize stress-effects at the whole-cell and molecular levels. This includes mode-of-action discovery with major drugs like current antimalarials.

This project will concentrate on stressor-induced oxidative stress as the main toxicity mechanism. This area is of particular interest considering the associations of oxygen free radicals with cancer, aging and a host of other degenerative conditions in humans.
The project will include analyses of the variability in stress responses seen among individual cells within populations. Cell individuality is a highly topical area being investigated by a number of laboratories across the world. We have pioneered innovative techniques to study it in this project.

Successful candidates will join an active group within the highly rated School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham. The project will provide excellent training opportunities in recombinant DNA techniques (cloning, PCR, mutagenesis), genome-wide screening methods, bioinformatics, gene expression using fluorescent reporter proteins, flow cytometry/cell sorting (FACS), protein analysis, purification and immunoblotting.