Oysters are incredible animals. They purify water, sequester carbon, engineer habitats, and protect our shores from extreme weather. In addition, farmed oysters nourish millions of people across the globe each day. Over the past two centuries, the UK native oyster, Ostrea edulis, has been decimated by overfishing, climate change and pathogenic diseases such as the parasite Bonamia ostreae. In order to redress this change, a number of schemes are attempting to restore native oysters to the waters around the UK, primarily by transplanting animals from healthy aquaculture sites back to ancient strongholds from which they have long since been purged. As such, it has once again become crucial that the movement of pathogens, alongside the mechanisms and process through which infection takes place, can be analysed and redressed. In this project, the student will explore the biology and genetics of Bonamia in the context of Scottish native oyster populations. Our knowledge of the routes through which Bonamia spreads is currently limited, and this work will provide some of the first measures of diversity within parasite populations, informing critical management decisions. Additionally, recent studies have suggested that some populations of oysters may have greater resistance to the pathogen. Further to this, the student will work across groups at Roslin to develop laboratory techniques to study the interaction between oyster and pathogen.
The student will study population genetics of the parasite, travelling to field sites around the UK to capture samples and returning them to the lab for analysis. The student will then work with the parasite in the Roslin Institute laboratory, running disease challenges, developing techniques to culture parasite and oyster cells in vitro, and analysing the outcomes with a combination of traditional biology and cutting-edge molecular biology based tools including gene-expression and metabolomics. The Roslin Institute is a world-leading centre for aquaculture science and genetics and the successful candidate will be welcomed into a growing team of researchers studying disease and genetics in aquaculture. The student will be expected to travel nationally and internationally and work effectively in laboratory and field settings. The applicant will have a keen interest in aquaculture science, environmental science, and pathogen biology. This project will require skills in fieldwork, bioinformatics, population genetics, metabolomics and molecular and cell biology techniques. Training will be provided for the right candidate, but experience in some or all of these areas is desirable.
Application procedures:
This 4 year PhD project is part of a competition funded by EASTBIO BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) http://www.eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk/how-apply-0 .
EASTBIO Application and Reference Forms can be downloaded via http://www.eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk/how-apply-0
Please send your completed EASTBIO Application Form along with a copy of your academic transcripts to [Email Address Removed]
You should also ensure that two references have been send to [Email Address Removed] by the deadline using the EASTBIO Reference Form.
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