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Prof C Creevey, Prof Sharon Huws
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Background and significance of research:
Gut microbiomes are complex ecosystems that, when stable, promote disease resistance and productivity in the host. While much of the recent research in gut microbiomes has focused on the changes that occur in gut microbial communities in response to fluctuations in the environment or caused by disease, little is known about the factors that promote stability in healthy microbiomes.
This project will initially use the rumen microbiome to investigate this phenomenon. Found in the first stomach chamber of ruminants such as cattle and sheep, this highly complex microbial community is essential to the survival of its host as it breaks down complex carbohydrates into nutrients vital for the host’s survival. We will use computational approaches to investigate how ecological and evolutionary principles developed for understanding macro-communities can further our understanding of stability in microbial communities in the rumen. This will then be extended to other gut ecosystems to investigate whether the same principles apply across other vertebrates.
This is a computational project and is suitable both for biologists keen to learn bioinformatics or computational students keen to work with biological data. Successful applicants will join the Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics group under the supervision of Professor Chris Creevey (http://www.creeveylab.org).
Research aims:
To understand the ecological principles underlying gut microbiome homeostasis we need to know:
• How responses of the gut microbiome to external perturbations cause variable degrees of deviation from homeostasis.
• Which homeostatic responses may be competitively advantageous for transient perturbations.
• How functional (genes) and compositional (species) factors drive retention and recuperation of homeostasis.
• Whether the host exerts sufficient influence to promote homeostasis in the gut microbiome and which factors in the microbiome are most associated.
Gut microbiomes are complex ecosystems that, when stable, promote disease resistance and productivity in the host. While much of the recent research in gut microbiomes has focused on the changes that occur in gut microbial communities in response to fluctuations in the environment or caused by disease, little is known about the factors that promote stability in healthy microbiomes.
This project will initially use the rumen microbiome to investigate this phenomenon. Found in the first stomach chamber of ruminants such as cattle and sheep, this highly complex microbial community is essential to the survival of its host as it breaks down complex carbohydrates into nutrients vital for the host’s survival. We will use computational approaches to investigate how ecological and evolutionary principles developed for understanding macro-communities can further our understanding of stability in microbial communities in the rumen. This will then be extended to other gut ecosystems to investigate whether the same principles apply across other vertebrates.
This is a computational project and is suitable both for biologists keen to learn bioinformatics or computational students keen to work with biological data. Successful applicants will join the Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics group under the supervision of Professor Chris Creevey (http://www.creeveylab.org).
Research aims:
To understand the ecological principles underlying gut microbiome homeostasis we need to know:
• How responses of the gut microbiome to external perturbations cause variable degrees of deviation from homeostasis.
• Which homeostatic responses may be competitively advantageous for transient perturbations.
• How functional (genes) and compositional (species) factors drive retention and recuperation of homeostasis.
• Whether the host exerts sufficient influence to promote homeostasis in the gut microbiome and which factors in the microbiome are most associated.
Funding Notes
This project is funded by the Department for the Economy (DfE). Only UK and EU students are eligible to apply. Full information on eligibility criteria is available from the DfE website: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/department-economy-studentships
Academic requirements:
A 2.1 UK Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject is required.
Academic requirements:
A 2.1 UK Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject is required.
References
This project will be supervised by Professor Chris Creevey and Dr Sharon Huws of the Institute for Global Food Security/School of Biological Sciences.
The successful applicant will register as a research student at Queen’s University School of Biological Sciences.
Applicants must be prepared to start the project no later than January 2019.
The successful applicant will register as a research student at Queen’s University School of Biological Sciences.
Applicants must be prepared to start the project no later than January 2019.
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