Dr Sebastian Eves-van den Akker, Prof Jim Haseloff
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Your project aims to increase our understanding of a globally important plant-parasitic nematodes in sufficiently useful detail to engineer a novel immune response using a synthetic biology approach.
We know that plant-parasitic nematodes secrete proteins (termed "effectors") into the plant, causing existing plant cells to re-differentiate into a unique tissue from which it feeds (termed a "feeding site". Three distinct groups of effectors are sequentially up-regulated over a period of ~5 weeks in a multi-stage parasitism programme.
The multi-stage parasitism programme in the nematode suggests that a corresponding programme of sequential transcriptional change in the plant leads to the unique combination of developmental changes observed during feeding site formation. Taken together, this provides a basis to explore both the fundamental plant biology underlying parasitism, and also an opportunity to identify a robust and specific "transcriptional signature" of infection on which to build a synthetic immune response using transcriptional logic.
1. We need to know the temporally-resolved programme of transcriptional change in the host that is concurrent with the nematode parasitism programme to understand which plant genes are involved in feeding site development, and when.
2. We need to identify a set of transcriptional responses that, together, uniquely describe the feeding site tissue because it will allow us to design synthetic logic circuits to specifically recognise this set of transcriptional responses.
3. We need to design and test a series of synthetic logic circuits in a heterologous system.
4. We need to test the efficacy of synthetic logic circuits to specifically recognise plant-parasitic nematodes in vivo to tell us the potential for strategic application.
This project will combine expertise across the department in plant-pathology and synthetic biology in an exciting emerging area. Funding for this project is secured through the Targeted BBSRC DTP Studentship scheme. The closing date for all BBSRC funded studentships is noon on Friday 7th December 2018. The successful applicant will start in 2019. Feel free to get in contact if you are interested. Applicants should apply through the University’s Applicant Portal; https://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/