About the Project
The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica is a major pathogen of livestock that can also transmit to humans. Treatment of liver fluke is threatened by the emergence of drug resistance in the parasite populations. Genomics provides a means to accelerate new drugs, vaccines or diagnostics and the University of Liverpool has led the sequencing and analysis of the Fasciola genome. This project will improve the annotation of this genome and seek to understand the evolutionary forces that have shaped the genome in the past, and that are now changing the genome as a result of selection by drug treatment.
Findings will be translated into insights relevant to drug and vaccine design: What genes are evolving most rapidly? How does the Fasciola genome allow it to respond to changes in its environment or to novel treatments? What are the weakpoints in Fasciola biology that can be exploited to provide new treatments?
The student will be trained in the latest techniques in genomics and bioinformatics and will be based in one of the leading genomics centres in the world. Bioinformatics skills are heavily in demand in both academia and industry and the student will be encouraged to build their CV to maximise their employability. The student will also learn the veterinary context of the work and take part in outreach activities with farmers and veterinarians to promote the role of modern genomics to tackle problems in agriculture.
Funding Notes
The Institute of Integrative Biology offers competitive IIB International Scholarships. These cover tuition and research fees and a one-off sum of £1000 will be provided on commencement of studies but students must provide all their living costs for the duration of their studies.
Applicants must be able to commence studies 1 October 2017.
All applications must be made before 26 May 2017 using the University of Liverpool on-line system at https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/how-to-apply/ for Full Time PhD Biological Sciences for term 2017-18.
Interviews will be held during June with applicants notified of the outcome by 30 June 2017.
References
K. Cwiklinski, J. P. Dalton, P. J. Dufresne, J. La Course, D. J. Williams, J. Hodgkinson, and S. Paterson, “The Fasciola hepatica genome: gene duplication and polymorphism reveals adaptation to the host environment and the capacity for rapid evolution,” Genome Biology, vol. 16, no. 1, p. 71, Apr. 2015.
N. J. Beesley, D. J. L. Williams, S. Paterson, and J. Hodgkinson, “Fasciola hepatica demonstrates high levels of genetic diversity, a lack of population structure and high gene flow: possible implications for drug resistance,” Int. J. Parasitol., vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 11–20, Jan. 2017.
J. Hodgkinson, K. Cwiklinski, N. J. Beesley, S. Paterson, and D. J. L. Williams, “Identification of putative markers of triclabendazole resistance by a genome-wide analysis of genetically recombinant Fasciola hepatica” Parasitol., vol. 140, no. 12, pp. 1523–1533.
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